John Butler (musician)
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler (born 1 April 1975), professionally known as John Butler, is an American-Australian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He is best known for his time as the eponymous frontman of the John Butler Trio, a roots and jam band that formed in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1998.
For other people named John Butler, see John Butler (disambiguation).
John Butler
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler
1 April 1975
Torrance, California, U.S.
Musician, songwriter, record label owner, producer
Vocals, guitar, drums, harmonica, didgeridoo, banjo, stomp box, ukulele
1996–present
The John Butler Trio recorded five studio albums, including three that reached number one on the Australian charts: Sunrise Over Sea, Grand National and April Uprising. His recordings and live performances have met with critical praise and have garnered awards from the Australian Performing Right Association and Australian Recording Industry Association.
Butler was born in the United States and moved to Australia at an early age. He began playing the guitar at the age of sixteen. In 2002, Butler, along with several partners, formed their own record label Jarrah. He is also the co-founder of The JB Seed, a grant program that seeks to improve artistic diversity in Australia.
Early life and education[edit]
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler was born on 1 April 1975 to an Australian father, Darryl Wiltshire-Butler, and an American mother, Barbara (née Butler).[A] He was named after his paternal grandfather, John Wiltshire, a forestry worker who died fighting a bushfire in Nannup.[1] Butler has British, Bulgarian, and Greek ancestry through his father. His genealogy was investigated on an episode of the SBS Television series Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired on 1 November 2009.[2] The show traced his family history from his deceased grandfather's war diaries through to ancestors in Bulgaria and the events of the 1876 April Uprising.[3]
In January 1986, after his parents divorced, Butler's father moved the family to Western Australia.[2][3] They eventually settled in Pinjarra, a small country town, and Butler attended Pinjarra Primary School and Pinjarra Senior High School.[4][5][6] He began playing guitar at the age of sixteen after his grandmother gave him a 1930s dobro belonging to his deceased grandfather.[3][7] In 1996, he attended Curtin University in Perth and enrolled in an art teaching course, but eventually abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music.[7][8] Some of his first musical performances were as a busker at the Fremantle Markets.[9] Butler was also participant in the Western Australian skateboarding scene,[10] and is recognised for his involvement with the internationally renowned "Woolstores" street spot in Fremantle.[11]
Solo[edit]
On 29 June 2007, Butler gave a live solo performance at Twist and Shout Records in Denver, Colorado, which was released in January 2008 as an eight-track EP, One Small Step, with A$1 from each record sold being donated to Oxfam's "Close the Gap" campaign. One Small Step was Butler's first official solo release.[28] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, Butler performed "Funky Tonight" in a collaboration with fellow Australian musician Keith Urban. Radio station, Triple J's listeners voted Grand National their favourite album for 2007.[29]
"Ocean" garnered John Butler newfound success when recordings of live performances of the song went viral on the internet.
Butler made a cameo appearance in 2009 Australian film, In Her Skin, as a busker. The film's soundtrack featured three songs by the John Butler Trio, "Ocean", "Caroline" and "What You Want".
"Ocean" by John Butler featured on the benefit album 'Surfing Medicine: Volume I' released in 2009 with Slightly Stoopid, The Pharcyde, and others raised enough funds for charity to conduct an international peer reviewed herbal cancer research and treatment publication in Journal of Ethnobiology and project by Indigenous leaders from Hawai'i, Jamaica and Africa in Kormantse territory of Ghana which led to a cover story about the 'Ocean' funded charity music project in a surf magazine that won 2 Silver Medals at the American Advertising Awards for best collateral material for any magazine issue and series in America in 2015.[30] Kelly Slater also featured the track 'Ocean' for the charity album project with John Butler in a PSA he released to help promote the project.[31]
In July 2009, Butler undertook a solo overseas tour commencing in North America, where he played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan and The Mile High Music Festival in Denver. In North America he sold out headline shows in Toronto and Los Angeles. In Europe, Butler played at the Folies Bergère in Paris and London's Union Chapel. He also performed at Cannes, Amsterdam and Antwerp.
Upon his return in August, he took part in the Cannot Buy My Soul concert at the Queensland Music Festival. Butler performed alongside other local musicians (including Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Troy Cassar-Daley, Clare Bowditch, Tex Perkins and Bernard Fanning) reinterpreting the catalogue of indigenous Australian musician Kev Carmody.[32] Butler's interpretation of the song, "Thou Shalt Not Steal", was included on the compilation album, and later was featured on the iTunes Deluxe album of Grand National. Butler participated at the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures located in Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Equipment and technique[edit]
Butler plays harmonica, didgeridoo, drums, lap-steel, banjo and amplified acoustic guitars and his custom-made, 11-string Maton guitar.[34][35] Butler prefers the Maton custom 11-string guitar and often uses a Seymour Duncan SA-6 Mag Mic pick-up with a Marshall Amplification JMP Super Lead Head and a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. He uses a variety of electronic effects including distortion, reverb / delay and wah-wah pedal to achieve his unique sound.[36] Butler uses long, pointed fibreglass fingernails for finger picking.[37] Ocean's arrangement is similar to Salento pizzica.
Awards and nominations[edit]
AIR Awards[edit]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.