Steven Springer
Encyclopedia
Steven Springer is an American guitarist
and songwriter
known for his innovative smooth soft touch guitar style. Steven is best known for being a member of the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band and for playing with Sir Lancelot
Pinard, Arizona
-based band Sanctuary, and his current musical project Tropicooljazz.
, Trinidad
and attended St. Mary's College
. He started a band while in high school, and quickly became a very popular and sought-after guitarist, and was a regular fixture at local dances and parties. He left Trinidad to attend college at the Mayfield College
, Sussex
, England
.
and formed a band called Sanctuary, which rose to fame, winning local awards for “Band of The Year” for three consecutive years, as well as “Album of the Year,” during the 1980’s.
artist Sir Lancelot. They recorded Sir Lancelot's final album, called "Pinaryhymns - Religious Calypso."
, Queensland
, Australia
, performing with the Trinidad Calypso Band.
and joined Hugh Borde’s world famous Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, performing and recording with them for over ten years. While in Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, Steven performed with Robert Greenidge
, Othello Molineaux
, and Marcus Belgrave
and also shared the stage with The Wailers, Eek-A-Mouse
and Arrow
.
, Motown Winter Blast, Arts, Beats and Eats, and African World Festival. NiteFlight won awards for best Road Band at the Detroit International Caribbean
Festival.
, soca
, jazz
, reggae
, Latin
, blues
, rock and R&B. He recorded the first Tropicooljazz CD by collaborating with musicians from all over the world via the internet
. Steven then followed up that release with another visit to Trinidad and another CD release, "Tropicooljazz 2" which featured more songs that were written about and inspired by Trinidad and Tobago, as well as his personal battle with cancer. Normally known for his instrumental releases, "Three Came For Me" features vocal tracks by a wide variety of well-known Caribbean and jazz artists. "Tropicooljazz 4.0" features a unique collection of songs which highlight Steven's world music background, while continuing to develop the Tropicool sound.
as well as bass guitarist Dave Sharp
consisting of a fusion of world, funk, rock, Caribbean and tropical jazz. They released a self-titled CD in late 2010 that was recorded live at Muruga's Sage Ct. Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
.
records and seeing The Merrymen
perform he quickly learned to play guitar.
. He had three children with his first wife: Venissa, Sarah and Johnpaul.
, Ovation and BLB sound. He uses GuitarHeads pickups. He also often plays a Fender
Telecaster custom and a Yamaha SBG2000. He uses GHS
Boomers guitar strings (11 gauge), and Line 6 amplifiers and processors. He usually does not use any guitar picks, but when he does he uses Jim Dunlop
88's.
equipped guitar with no tone control, into a Line 6 amplifier and processor
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
known for his innovative smooth soft touch guitar style. Steven is best known for being a member of the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band and for playing with Sir Lancelot
Sir Lancelot (singer)
Lancelot Victor Edward Pinard was a calypso singer and actor who used the name Sir Lancelot. Sir Lancelot played a major role in popularizing calypso in North America, and Harry Belafonte has acknowledged him as an inspiration and major influence.-Early life:Pinard was born in Cumuto, Trinidad...
Pinard, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
-based band Sanctuary, and his current musical project Tropicooljazz.
Background and Early Career
Steven Springer grew up in Port of SpainPort of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and attended St. Mary's College
Saint Mary's College, Trinidad and Tobago
Saint Mary's College is a government-assisted Catholic secondary school situated on Frederick Street in the heart of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The school was established in 1863 with only a handful of students but enrollment today is close to 1200. The school's motto 'Virtus et Scientia'...
. He started a band while in high school, and quickly became a very popular and sought-after guitarist, and was a regular fixture at local dances and parties. He left Trinidad to attend college at the Mayfield College
Mayfield and Five Ashes
Mayfield and Five Ashes is a civil parish in the High Weald of East Sussex, England. The two villages making up the principal part of the parish lie on the A267 road between Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne: Mayfield, the larger of the two villages is ten miles south of Tunbridge Wells; with Five...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Sanctuary
After graduation, Steven moved to Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
and formed a band called Sanctuary, which rose to fame, winning local awards for “Band of The Year” for three consecutive years, as well as “Album of the Year,” during the 1980’s.
Sir Lancelot
Steven Springer and Brian Pinard performed as "The Knights of The Holy Trinity" to accompany Brian Pinard's uncle, famous calypsoCalypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
artist Sir Lancelot. They recorded Sir Lancelot's final album, called "Pinaryhymns - Religious Calypso."
Trinidad Calypso Band
Touring worldwide, Springer was a featured artist at the 1988 World’s Fair in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, performing with the Trinidad Calypso Band.
Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band
Upon returning to the United States, Springer moved to MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and joined Hugh Borde’s world famous Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, performing and recording with them for over ten years. While in Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, Steven performed with Robert Greenidge
Robert Greenidge
Robert Greenidge is a steelpan player in the United States and a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini.-Career:...
, Othello Molineaux
Othello Molineaux
Othello Molineaux is an acclaimed jazz steelpan player who spent much of his earlier career backing bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius. Additionally, Molineaux has worked with other musicians such as Monty Alexander, Chicago, and David Johansen.-References:...
, and Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave is a jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has recorded with a variety of famous musicians, bandleaders, and record labels since the 1950s. Notable among them are: Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, Motown Records, Tribe Records, Blue Note...
and also shared the stage with The Wailers, Eek-A-Mouse
Eek-a-Mouse
Eek-A-Mouse is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the early artists to be described as a "singjay".-Biography:...
and Arrow
Arrow (musician)
Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell MBE was a calypso and soca musician who performed under the stage name Arrow, and is regarded as the first superstar of soca from Montserrat.-Early years:...
.
NiteFlight
Steven teamed up with Joseph Allen (keyboards, vocals), Dector Scott (bass guitar, vocals), Norris George (steel drum), and Robert Valentine (steel drums) to form NiteFlight Caribbean Band. They were soon playing large festivals, such as the Ann Arbor Summer FestivalAnn Arbor Summer Festival
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is an annual display of performing arts, outdoor entertainment and community spirit in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Each year, the three-week event offers dozens of performances, events, activities, exhibitions, parties and more, with eclectic music, dance, theater, film,...
, Motown Winter Blast, Arts, Beats and Eats, and African World Festival. NiteFlight won awards for best Road Band at the Detroit International Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
Festival.
Tropicooljazz
Inspired by a visit to Trinidad, Steven Springer decided to write and record some new songs, featuring a new style of jazz he dubbed "Tropicooljazz," which was a melting pot of all of the music that has influenced him: calypsoCalypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, rock and R&B. He recorded the first Tropicooljazz CD by collaborating with musicians from all over the world via the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Steven then followed up that release with another visit to Trinidad and another CD release, "Tropicooljazz 2" which featured more songs that were written about and inspired by Trinidad and Tobago, as well as his personal battle with cancer. Normally known for his instrumental releases, "Three Came For Me" features vocal tracks by a wide variety of well-known Caribbean and jazz artists. "Tropicooljazz 4.0" features a unique collection of songs which highlight Steven's world music background, while continuing to develop the Tropicool sound.
JUNGLE
In 2010, Steven began a musical project with drummer and percussionist Muruga BookerMuruga Booker
Muruga Booker is an American drummer, recording artist, and Orthodox priest.- Biography :Booker was born Steven Bookvich in Detroit, Michigan on December 27, 1942 and is of Serbian decent. His father, Melvin Bookvich, was a shoemaker who played accordion. He has a wife, Shakti; a son, Aaron; and a...
as well as bass guitarist Dave Sharp
Dave Sharp (bass guitarist)
Dave Sharp was the touring bass guitarist for the rock band Melvins during their 1993 tour. He currently plays in several bands including Jungle with Muruga Booker and Steven Springer, Spheres of Influence, and his own band the Dave Sharp Secret Seven....
consisting of a fusion of world, funk, rock, Caribbean and tropical jazz. They released a self-titled CD in late 2010 that was recorded live at Muruga's Sage Ct. Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Music videos
Steven Springer has released many innovative music videos, several of which can be viewed online.- "Legend of Springer" music video
- "Monkey Brains" music video
- "Fire For Glenda" music video
- "Bob & Peter (jazz version)" music video
- "Carnival" music video
- "How the West Was Won" music video
- "All Kind Ah Ting" music video
Awards
Steven was chosen “Best Guitar Player,” every year from 1990 to 1993, at the annual Detroit Music AwardsDetroit Music Awards
The Detroit Music Awards was initially proposed in 1988. Presented by the Motor City Music Foundation, the multi-genre awards ceremony was established to bring recognition to Detroit area musicians. The first award show was held in 1992 at Detroit's Music Hall, and moved to the State Theatre in...
.
Influences
Growing up in Trinidad, Steven was inspired by the melodic lilting sound of soca and calypso, and he started playing guitar at a young age. Steven was intrigued by the fusion of many different cultures and beautiful natural features of Trinidad. Steven loved to listen to the steel bands perform at Carnival. After hearing The VenturesThe Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
records and seeing The Merrymen
The Merrymen
The Merrymen, sometimes written as The MerryMen, are a popular calypso band from Barbados.The Merrymen's career spans five decades, from the early 1960s to the 2000s...
perform he quickly learned to play guitar.
Family
Steven is married to Denise Dooley, and they live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was formerly married to Karen Bronski, who died due to cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He had three children with his first wife: Venissa, Sarah and Johnpaul.
Cancer
In 2005 Steven was diagnosed and treated for cancer, and the cancer went in to remission. In 2007 cancer once again appeared, this time in his lungs. A trip to Trinidad in 2008, helped his cancer go in to remission, however he was then once again diagnosed with cancer in 2010. Steven is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. He often performs at fund raisers and benefits for cancer societies around the world.Guitars
Steven endorses and plays Xaviere guitars, and Alden Guitars. He also uses HamerHamer Guitars
Hamer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars. Founded in 1973 by vintage guitar shop owners, Jol Dantzig and his business partner Paul Hamer. Early instruments featured guitar designs based on the Gibson Explorer and Flying V...
, Ovation and BLB sound. He uses GuitarHeads pickups. He also often plays a Fender
Fender
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Fender, of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster...
Telecaster custom and a Yamaha SBG2000. He uses GHS
GHS (strings)
GHS Strings is a Battle Creek, Michigan based guitar and bass guitar string manufacturer. The company was founded in 1964, and in 1975 was bought by Robert McFee, who is still the CEO...
Boomers guitar strings (11 gauge), and Line 6 amplifiers and processors. He usually does not use any guitar picks, but when he does he uses Jim Dunlop
Dunlop Manufacturing
Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc., known colloquially as Jim Dunlop, is a manufacturer of musical accessories based in Benicia, California. Originally founded in 1965 by Jim Dunlop, Sr., the company has grown from a small home operation to being a large manufacturer of music gear for over 40 years.- Way...
88's.
Amplifiers
The Steven Springer lead guitar tone is produced by a humbuckerHumbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
equipped guitar with no tone control, into a Line 6 amplifier and processor