Carl T. Sprague
Carl T. Sprague (b. 1895, Houston, Texas - d. 1978) was an American country musician. Sprague was one of the first country musicians on record, recording hillbilly music in the early 1920s.
Sprague grew up on a farm and learned traditional cowboy songs as a child. He graduated from college in 1922 and was offered occasional work performing on radio. After hearing Vernon Dalhart's "The Prisoner's Song", a massively successful folk tune, Sprague decided to begin recording, traveling to Camden, New Jersey to do so in 1925. His debut sides were "When the Work's All Done This Fall" and "Bad Companions", and both became hits. He recorded with Victor until 1929. In the 1930s he moved to Bryan, Texas and ceased recording, though he would return to play folk festivals during the genre's resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s.
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