Music
News: John Butler announces new album and new Trio members!
John Butler is proud to announce the new line up to the ever evolving John Butler Trio. Melbourne musician Nicky Bomba will feature as the new drummer and percussionist. Nicky has been a prominent member of the Melbourne music scene with his band Bomba and is a prolific songwriter, performer and producer in his own right. Nicky was also the principle drummer on JBT’s five times platinum album ‘Sunrise Over Sea’.
Sydney musician Byron Luiters will feature as the new bass player. Byron is a talented dynamic bassist who has been a member of the Sydney outfit Ray Mann Three.
John, Nicky and Byron commenced recording of the new studio album earlier this month and are thrilled with progress so far.
John Butler said today, “Over the last twelve years of the JBT, I have been blessed with some amazing individuals. All have left their legacy and have raised the musical bar of the band. With any new incarnation it has always been an honour and challenge to meet the benchmark the band has achieved artistically and take it to the next level. It’s great to be playing with Nicky again and Byron brings a whole new level of melody, funk and Mojo to the Trio. Very exciting times.”
On July 2nd John departs our shores for a solo overseas tour starting in the Northern Hemisphere. He has been invited to play, for the first time, at the prestigious Montreal Jazz Festival. He will also play at the Rothbury Music festival in Michigan alongside the likes of Bob Dylan, The Dead and Ani Di Franco, and The Mile High Festival in Denver. In North America he has sold out headline shows in Toronto and LA. In Europe John is playing at the most famous music hall in Paris, the Folies Bergere and in London at the Union Chapel , a stunning old converted church situated in Islington. This show sold out within 24 hours of going on sale. He also plays Cannes, Amsterdam and Antwerp.
John will return from his overseas trip at the beginning of August, just in time to take part in the Cannot Buy My Soul Concert which is part of the Queensland Music Festival and takes place at the magnificent Brisbane River Stage on Saturday August 1st. It will be a very special evening with a long list of talented local musicians taking to the stage to reinterpret the wonderful catalogue of Kev Carmody, John will perform alongside the likes of Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins and Bernard Fanning.
John will then head to Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory to participate in the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture which takes place from August 7th until 11th.
Garma is Australia's leading Indigenous cultural exchange event with a national key forum on Indigenous creative industries - for more info please go to www.garma.telstra.com
Expect the first taste of the new John Butler Trio album later this year and stay tuned to the website for updates as it becomes an ‘album under construction’ tool where you can get all the up to date news on the recording process. www.johnbutlertrio.com
John Butler solo shows – forthcoming international dates:
Thursday 2nd July - High Sierra Music Festival - Quincy, CA USA
Saturday 4th July - Rothbury Music Festival - Rothbury, MI USA
Sunday 5th July - Montreal Jazz Festival - Montréal, QC CANADA - SOLD OUT
Monday 6th July - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, ON CANADA – SOLD OUT
Friday 10th July - Folie Bergere - Paris, FRANCE
Saturday 11th July - Festival de la Guitare - Mandelieu, FRANCE
Wednesday 15th July - Tivoli de Helling - Utrecht, Holland, The Netherlands – SOLD OUT
Thursday 16th July – Riverrenhof - Antwerp, Belgium
Friday 17th July - Union Chapel - London, England UK – SOLD OUT
Sunday 19th July - Mile High Music Festival - Commerce City, CO USA
Tuesday 21st July - The Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA USA – SOLD OUT
And for a special performance back in Australia on Saturday 1st August – Riverstage - Cannot Buy My Soul - The Songs Of Kev Carmody - Brisbane, QLD www.qmf.org.au
Womadelaide 2010 The Armada, Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Ethiopiques, Babylon Circus and Ojos de Brujo live @ Botanic Park, Adelaide, SA (5-8 March 2010)
Future Music Festival 2010 Empire of the Sun, Franz Ferdinard, Prodigy, Way Out West and more live @ Sydney, NSW (March 2010)
It's a pretty horrible one actually. On the Australian Made Tour in, it was about 87' - 88'. There was us, there was Barnsey (Jimmy Barnes), The Models, The Divinyls. You know it was a really fun tour actually, and we were sharing a brass section with The Models and the guy... One of the brass players he was fairly frail, he was quite young and he had a pacemaker and he actually collapsed and died during our set which was rather disturbing. It would be the most memorable but, only because it was so unpleasant. I would have to say that one sticks out for me.
What's your ideal festival line-up? Gee, that's a hard one. It's pretty good these day's they have guys like Neil Young coming out, and it's good. It shouldn't be a real generational thing. There are still a lot of good musicians that have inspired a lot of the younger bands and I think that it's nice that they put these guys on the bill. It's an economic thing, obviously a lot of people want to see them but, I think it's also good for the younger people to see where a lot of this kinda stuff came from in the first place. I think the bills are pretty good actually.
Also, with the older bands and artists playing at shows it's a big thing for the younger ones because they have been inspired by that performer and seeing them play and being able to play along aside them is a big kick. Yeah, I think it's great and as long as they can still cut the mustard, I've heard that on some occasions they have been a bit disappointing but, they really have got there acts together these guys if they are still doing it. It's pretty obvious when they aren't. I sort of jokingly say "I'm getting the hang of it now", because I sort of am really, It's taken awhile but, you kinda have to be a bit more professional as you get older about doing it because, you need to be. It's amusing to see the 20yr old guys staggering around drunk on stage, that's kinda entertaining. But, when you get older it's not such a good look. You need to start thinking about being a bit more professional and getting your act together a bit.
The fall of the aging rock star. Haha Yeah, that's your job. If you want to keep doing it you need to stay reasonably healthy. I swim, I try and swim some laps everyday. That's how I occupy myself on tour. I've got to find out where the pool is otherwise I get a bit twitchy if I don't get to do my laps every day. You start to realize if you don't have your health you don't have anything. It's true of anybody but, particularly for entertainers if you let yourself go, your in trouble.
What's your most favourite artist you have seen at a festival? I would have to say Roy Orbison. I saw him only a couple of year's before he died. I couldn't believe it. He had already had the open heart surgery and, he had a shocking life the poor guy. He's always been a hero of mine. I actually got to see him, which was a big thrill.
What are your tips for attending a festival? I don't know. My kids are going to them kind of regularly and they seem to have a good time. I think the main thing is you need to get in early if you want to get ticket's to these things, because they seem to sell out really fast. They are really popular and just enjoy them.
My Festival Experience
