Spriggs and Bringle

Websites:  No
Origin: Kingston, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Spriggs & Bringle – A Brief Spark in Canadian Folk

The story of Spriggs & Bringle, the short-lived duo of Mark Haines and Colleen Peterson, begins in the unlikely setting of a high school fundraiser in Kingston, Ontario, December 1970. Both students at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KCVI), Haines had been performing with classmate Doug McClement (later a noted producer/engineer and founder of Comfort Sound Studios) in a small acoustic trio alongside Michael K. Myers. Their role was to fill the gaps between headlining acts that evening.

Through a mutual friend, McClement was introduced to a young singer with a growing reputation—Colleen Peterson. Peterson, who had already begun making a name for herself on Ottawa’s coffeehouse circuit in the mid-1960s, had moved to Kingston with her parents after stints in New York and Toronto. Though she admitted to feeling unsure about her guitar playing, she agreed to join the boys for the show. A handful of rehearsals in McClement’s family living room was enough to set the stage.

The performance went off smoothly, but more importantly, Peterson and Haines discovered an easy chemistry. After the fundraiser, the two began rehearsing together more seriously, eventually adopting the name Spriggs & Bringle (derived from playful nicknames). Their first proper gig as a duo was at the Razor’s Edge coffeehouse on Princess Street in Kingston, with McClement briefly returning on bass to support them. Managed by Kingston promoter Bernie Dobbin, they soon expanded their reach, playing the college circuit across Ontario and the U.S. East Coast.

By this point, Peterson was no newcomer to the Canadian folk scene. She had begun performing at age 16 in Ottawa, sharing stages with future luminaries like David Wiffen and Bruce Cockburn, and winning the RPM Gold Leaf Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1967. She had sung briefly with Three’s a Crowd, toured with Roy Orbison, joined New York jazz-rock outfit TCB for a short stint, and even endured the grueling eight-shows-a-week schedule of Toronto’s production of Hair.

Spriggs & Bringle marked a return to simplicity for Peterson, giving her space to refine her songwriting and performance in a more intimate setting. The duo’s earthy folk sound fit neatly into the early-1970s coffeehouse and college scene, and by 1972 they had attracted industry attention. That year they recorded an unreleased album, First Call, at RCA Studios (later McClear Place) with Randy Bachman producing—a tantalizing “what if” moment in Canadian music history.

They relocated to Toronto in 1973, where they cut their only officially issued recordings, an EP for the CBC’s LM Series of broadcast-only releases. Despite their momentum, the partnership was short-lived. Within a few years, Spriggs & Bringle dissolved: Peterson embarked on the solo career that would eventually carry her to Nashville and Juno-winning recognition, while Haines joined Toronto bluegrass outfit Black Creek before pursuing a varied career as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.

Though their recorded legacy is frustratingly slim, Spriggs & Bringle represent an important crossroads in Colleen Peterson’s career. The duo bridged her early folk beginnings with her emergence as one of Canada’s most versatile and soulful voices, and their story remains a charming chapter in Kingston’s contribution to the Canadian folk boom of the early 1970s.
-Robert Williston