Born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, at the age of 18 he moved to Dublin, where he attended university.

Growing up, he listened to Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, the Beatles, British folk songs and traditional Irish music.

As a teenager he had met the Ó Domhnaill family during trips to the Gaeltacht area of Rann na Feirste in County Donegal, and while in Dublin they formed a band, Skara Brae, who would go on to have a great effect on Irish traditional music.

The nature of the tuning meant that you didn't really produce anything that was terribly, drastically, offensively wrong to people.

Sproule is also a member of various other bands and has recorded further solo albums; he also teaches DADGAD guitar and traditional songs at the Center for Irish Music[3] in St. Paul, Minnesota.