John Butler (musician)
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John Butler (born 1 April 1975 in Torrance, California) is an Australian musician having moved to Australia on 26 January 1986 with his Australian father and American mother. He is the leader of the John Butler Trio, a jam band that has achieved two platinum records in Australia with Three (2001) and Living (2003). Their 2004 album Sunrise Over Sea debuted at number one on March 15, 2004 and shipped gold in its first week of release.
At sixteen, he started to learn the guitar and his grandmother gave him his grandfather's 1930's dobro guitar. This guitar was to be presented to the first child to learn the guitar and as none of his grandfather's children did take up the guitar, it was awarded to the first grandchild to learn the guitar. It is still one of John Butler's most treasured possessions.
In 1996, John Butler attended Curtin University in Perth studying to be an art teacher. At Curtin University, he learned open finger tuning which allowed him to play Celtic and Indian music. His home grown compositions received a strong response. In mid 1996, he released a self-recorded cassette of his own instrumental compositions called Searching for Heritage which eventually sold 3,000 copies in Perth. By the end of 1996, he had dropped out of Curtin University to pursue a musical career and started playing at open mic nights.
After growing up in Pinjarra, Butler began his musical career as a busker in Fremantle, before achieving his current fame. His band's first two albums (John Butler-1998 and JBT EP-2000) were moderately successful, allowing him to establish a largely word-of-mouth following. Sunrise Over Sea, however, featured the single Zebra (so named because Butler was listening to Led Zeppelin and reggae music at the time he wrote it), which proved a major hit Australia wide.
Butler is known for his looks, in particular his dreadlocks. He is also outspoken on his left-wing political views, often making political statements at his performances. He is also known for his long pointed acrylic prosthetic fingernails which are required for his unique hybrid picking style that he uses in certain songs.
As befits a former busker from Fremantle, Butler is famous for the quality of his live performances and his rapport with his audience. His playing style is also vibrant and original, incorporating western and eastern styles such as blues, Indian and Celtic. He is also well known for his instrumental solo pieces including Ocean, Mist, Spring and Under an Indian Sky. Additionally he plays harmonica, didgeridoo, drums and chooses amplified acoustic instruments such as the 12-string (although he removes the G-6th string to play more intricate solos), lapsteel and banjo (in his recent productions). Butler uses mainly Maton 12 strings, he amplifies them using a Marshall Amplification JMP Super Lead Head, with a Marshall 4x12 cabinet, recognizable by the Australian Southern Cross painted on the front. He has a variety of effects including: distortion, reverb/delay and wah pedal effects to achieve a fairly unique sound. For a full list of equipment go to- [1]
The present drummer and bass player for the John Butler Trio are Michael Barker and Shannon Birchall, though Nicky Bomba contributed percussion for Sunrise Over Sea. Previous members are drummer Jason Mcgann (1998-2002) and bass players Gavin Shoesmith (1998-2001), Rory Quirk (2001-2002) and Andrew Fry (April 2002-November 2002). There has been no word from any of the band's current members on whether the present line-up will remain for a new CD, with all their efforts presently being put into promoting Sunrise Over Sea in the United States. In September 2006, John Butler Trio released a promotional studio diary of their recording progress of their latest album, currently untitled, which is expected in early 2007. For now, the recording sessions are referred to as "Sing Sing Sessions" until a name has been decided upon for the album. An EP is expected before their studio album's release. The album will include many tracks from their live shows, such as "Daniella", "Fire In the Sky", and "Funky Tonight". "Devil Running" is currently available for download or streaming audio on their website, as a demo and preview for their studio release.
