John Southworth (born on April 22, 1972) is an English-Canadian singer-songwriter. His style encompasses a range of popular song genres, from oldies-radio to folk, 80’s pop to cabaret. New York Press wrote that his "capacity for a wide range of antiquated styles seems to have emerged out of a time vacuum" and described him as “delightfully eccentric.”[1] Rich Terfry of CBC Radio 2 said, “John is to music what Guy Maddin is to film.”
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John Southworth was born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, England. He is the son of U.K pop producer/songwriter Peter Shelley, who wrote and produced numerous U.K/European hits for Alvin Stardust and as a solo artist in the seventies. At age eight, he moved with his family to Vancouver, Canada, and then a few years later to Toronto. Southworth first started playing guitar at age ten, and at age sixteen began writing poetry and songs. He attended Upper Canada College, but left before his last year to attend a local high school, Northern Secondary.
Mars Pennsylvania 1996-98
Southworth’s signature debut album "Mars Pennsylvania", co-produced with Jono Grant, was released in 1996 on Water Street/AM Records in his native Canada, and later in 1998, on Bar None Records in the U.S and Quattro in Japan. The record received rave critical acclaim. One reviewer said, “If Burt Bacharach and Bobby Vinton had a sexually ambiguous alien love child, John Southworth would be it. Damn odd music. But catchy and wonderful at the same time.” Exclaim Magazine called it “the most original Canadian debut album since Mary Margaret O’Hara’s ‘Miss America’”; the Toronto Star called him a “pop poet”.
Sedona Arizona & Banff Springs Transylvania & Rose Milk Appalachia E.P 1999-2001
In 1999 Southworth released the high-energy lo-fi “Sedona Arizona”, produced by fellow Canadian cohort Hawksley Workman. Both “Sedona” and the self-produced “Banff Springs Transylvania (2000)” were released only in Canada on Water Street/Outside Music and Perimeter Records/Universal respectively. The folk-orchestral “Banff” contained a duet with Mary Margaret O’Hara on “Cat Mountain”. To promote these records, Southworth performed theatrical shows in white face with a three-piece bluegrass band. An apartment recording of the bluegrass Sedona songs would later surface on the self-released “Rose Milk Appalachia” EP in 2001.
Yosemite & The Pillowmaker w/The South Seas 2004-07
“Yosemite” was recorded with a group of Toronto jazz and avant-garde improv musicians, consisting of Jean Martin (drums), Justin Haynes (guitar) and Andrew Downing (bass), later dubbed by Southworth as ‘The South Seas’. To promote “Yosemite”, Southworth took on a persona he called “the lost child of the railroad” and completed a cross-country Canadian tour by train.[2] Inspired by Nature artists like Andy Goldsworthy, he planted ceremonial turnip seeds along the way.
In 2006, Southworth and ‘The South Seas’ recorded “The Pillowmaker”. The record was co-produced with drummer Jean Martin and featured nineteen songs. Two of the songs have since garnered cover versions by Canadian artists Sarah Slean (“Eyes Are The Flowers” on the upcoming “Black Flowers” CD with The Art of Time Ensemble), as well as Veda Hille and Kim Barlow’s CBC Radio duet of “We Can Live Life”. ‘The Pillowmaker’ was digitally released on Minnesota-based Grimsey Records in 2007.
Mama Tevatron 2009
Southworth’s sixth record “Mama Tevatron” was released on Dead Daisy Records in Canada in October 2009. On his website, Southworth has described “Mama” as “divine and savage, an epic medicinal leech”.
In 2006 Southworth co-wrote songs with the aforementioned Hawksley Workman, including “Kissing Girls (You Shouldn’t Kiss) and “When You Gonna Flower”, the lead single to Hawksley’s 2008 CD “Los Manlicious”; he and Hawksley also co-wrote “Never Lost My Sight” for Canadian R+B artist Jully Black’s recent CD “Revival”. Recently, he has contributed a song ("Bcc") for Buck 65's "20 Odd Years" album.
Southworth has taken part in the last three Art of Time Ensemble’s Source and Inspiration concerts at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, contributing original songs inspired by select Schumann, Schubert, and Korngold pieces.
Video/film
Southworth has directed Bravo-funded videos for “Life Is Unbelievable” and “First Of May”, as well as super-8 videos for “Pineapple Shoes”, “Simple Simple Boy”, and “Sunday Brunch Buffet”.