Early years Peter Sprague was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1955. His family moved frequently, settling in 1961 in
Del Mar, California, where he fell in love with surfing. Although his parents were jazz fans, he was more interested in the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash when he picked up the guitar at age 12. Three years later, he paid more attention to his parents' jazz collection and began taking guitar lessons. He formed the Minor Jazz Quintet with his brother Tripp and three other musicians. He attended San Dieguito High School in Encinitas and
Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.
Career Photo by Bob Bretell --> In 1976, he moved to Boston to study with classical guitarist Albin Czak. He received some lessons from
Pat Metheny, The same critic gave the album the top spot in the Top 10 SD Jazz Releases of 2013. His album ''Dream Walkin' '' (2015) with vocalist Leonard Patton was nominated for 2015 Best Jazz Album by San Diego Music Awards.
Teaching and writing In 1985 Sprague accepted teaching positions at both the Musicians Institute (Hollywood) and the California Institute of the Arts (Los Angeles) and for three years taught students from all over the world. Connections at those schools landed him a two-year job where he would fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, play concerts for a couple of weeks, then teach at a music camp in Las Lenas. Compiling the material he'd created and accumulated for his teaching, he published a theory book,
The Sprague Technique. He then drew on the many transcriptions he'd made for himself over the years to publish several songbooks of both his own solos and the solos of some of his favorite other jazz musicians. == Awards and honors ==