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John Butler (musician)
Encyclopedia
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler (born 1 April 1975) or John Charles Butler is an Australian musician, songwriter, record label owner and producer. He is the front man for the John Butler Trio
, a roots
and jam band
, which formed in Fremantle, Western Australia
in 1998.
The John Butler Trio has recorded five studio albums including three which have 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 Australasian 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. He is also the co-founder of a grant program that seeks to improve artistic diversity in his home country of Australia where he resides with his wife and children.
, United States.[A] His Australian father, Darryl Wiltshire-Butler, and American mother, Barbara (née
Butler – unrelated) divorced and Butler migrated to Western Australia with his father, brother and sister in January 1986. He was named after his paternal grandfather, John Wiltshire-Butler, a forestry worker who died fighting a bushfire in Nannup
. He moved to the small town of Pinjarra
when he was eleven, and he attended the local primary and secondary schools.
Butler began playing guitar at the age of sixteen after his grandmother gave him a 1930s dobro
belonging to his deceased grandfather. In 1996, Butler attended Curtin University in Perth
and enrolled in an art teaching course but abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music.
on the streets of Fremantle
playing his own compositions. In mid-1996, he released a self-recorded cassette of his instrumentals, Searching for Heritage
, which sold 3,000 copies. He played different styles of music including "Indian, Celtic, bluegrass and folk". Butler had his first paid performance in 1997 at the Seaview Hotel in Fremantle. In 1998, North Fremantle, Mojos club owner, Phil Stevens, hired Butler as a regular performer. Stevens became his manager and later his business partner.
to form the John Butler Trio
and recorded the John Butler
album which was released on Waterfront Records
in December 1998. At various times the members of the John Butler Trio included drummers Michael Barker
(2003–2009) and Nicky Bomba
, bass players Rory Quirk (2001–2002), Andrew Fry (April 2002-November 2002), Shannon Birchall
(2002–2009) and Byron Luiters. The band's musical style was influenced by Black Sabbath
, Fleetwood Mac
and Jeff Lang
. The band toured throughout Western Australia in 1999.
The band's second album, Three
, was produced by Butler and Shaun O'Callaghan. It was released and distributed on Waterfront Records in April 2001. It featured the tracks "Take" and "Betterman", which both received radio airplay on the Australian alternative youth radio station Triple J
and rated in its annual Top 100. The band appeared at the Big Day Out
concert series and the Woodford Folk Festival.
In July 2002, Jarrah Records was created by Butler, members of fellow Western Australian act The Waifs
and their common manager, Stevens. Being a partner in a record label allowed Butler to maximise artistic control of his recordings.
The song "Zebra" was released as a single in December 2003 and received mainstream radio airplay and reached the top 30 on the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Singles Chart
. It was selected as 'Song of the Year' at the 2004 APRA Awards. The album, Sunrise Over Sea
, was released in March 2004 and peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was the first independently released and distributed album to debut at No. 1 and Butler received the ARIA 'Best Male Artist' award that same year.
In September 2006, John Butler Trio released a promotional studio diary of the recording progress of their next album, Grand National
, which was released in March 2007 and peaked at No. 1. In December 2006, Funky Tonight (EP) was released and included tracks from their live shows, such as "Daniella", "Fire in the Sky", and "Funky Tonight
". The band performed at the Melbourne entertainment hub, Federation Square
at Easter 2007. The one off performance featured musicians who had collaborated on Grand National, including Vika and Linda Bull
, Jex Saarhelart and Nicky Bomba. The performance was telecast on JTV
and was released on DVD in November.
On 29 June, 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 AUD
$1 from each record sold being donated to Oxfam
's "Close the Gap" campaign. One Small Step was Butler's first official solo release. 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.
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
. His track, "Thou Shalt Not Steal", was released 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
.
On 21 October, Butler featured on SBS Television's documentary called Destination Australia – Bridge Between Two Worlds performing to refugee children in a class at Perth's Highgate Primary School. Butler's genealogy
was described on an episode of SBS Television's series, Who Do You Think You Are?
, which aired on 1 November. The show traced his family history from his deceased grandfather – reading war diaries – through to ancestors in Bulgaria
and the events of the 1876 April Uprising
, which provided the title for the trio's next No. 1 album, April Uprising
, issued in March 2010. Butler performed "How to Make Gravy
" and the Kev Carmody
/Paul Kelly
song "From Little Things Big Things Grow
" (with Carmody, Kelly, Missy Higgins
and Dan Sultan
) at the Kelly tribute concerts staged by Triple J in mid-November 2009, which was released as the 2010 live album Before Too Long.
On 19 February 2011, Butler performed for the first time with his wife, also known as, Mama Kin, under the moniker, Brave and the Bird, at the Gimme Shelter event (an annual fundraiser for the homeless) held at the Fremantle Arts Centre
.
, drums, lap-steel, banjo and amplified acoustic guitars and removes the higher octave G string on his 12-string guitar. Butler prefers the Maton
12-string guitar and often uses a Seymour Duncan
SA-6 Mag Mic pickup 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. Butler uses long, pointed acrylic fingernails for finger picking.
After wearing dreadlocks
for 13 years, Butler cut them off in early 2008. In an interview with Herald Sun in 2008 Butler acknowledged that he had been referred to as the "million dollar hippie" in various articles and around his hometown in Australia. The nickname refers to his inclusion on the Business Review Weekly
(BRW's) list of 50 richest entertainers in 2004 with reported earnings of $2.4 million.
and the Save Ningaloo Reef
campaign.
In 2005, Butler and Caruana co-founded the JB Seed grant program – renamed as The Seed in 2010 – to support artistic expression and encourage the "social, cultural and artistic diversity in Australian society". The couple contributed $80,000 to establish the project. Other supporters include Paul Kelly, Correne Wilkie (Manager, The Cat Empire
), Paul and Michelle Gilding (Ecoscorp), Maureen Ritchie, Missy Higgins
, John Watson (Eleven Music), John Woodruff (JWM Productions), Sebastian Chase (MGM Distribution
), Philip Stevens (Jarrah Records), The Waifs and Blue King Brown
are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).
|-
| 2004
|| "Zebra" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Song of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2006
|| "Something's Gotta Give" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "What You Want
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2008
|| "Better Than
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Song of the Year ||
|-
| "Funky Tonight
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Blues & Roots Work of the Year ||
|-
| "Good Excuse
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Blues & Roots Work of the Year ||
are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The John Butler Trio have won five awards from twenty-one nominations (see John Butler Trio awards). Butler has won a further ARIA award for 'Best Male Artist' in 2004
from six nominations in that category.
|-
|| 2001
|| Three
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
| |2003
|| Living 2001-2002
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2004
|| Sunrise Over Sea
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2005
|| "Somethings Gotta Give
" || Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2007
|| Grand National
|| Best Male Artist||
|-
|| 2010
|| April Uprising
|| Best Male Artist ||
John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio are an eclectic roots and jam band from Australia led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums and Gavin Shoesmith on bass guitar...
, a roots
Roots music
Roots music can refer to several styles or trends in music:* Americana * Folk music* Roots of hip hop, the conditions which led to creation of the hip hop genre* Roots reggae...
and jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
, which formed in Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
in 1998.
The John Butler Trio has recorded five studio albums including three which have reached number-one on the Australian charts: Sunrise Over Sea
Sunrise over Sea
Sunrise Over Sea is the third album of The John Butler Trio and the fifth featuring John Butler. It was released in March 2004.- Conception and production :...
, Grand National
Grand National (album)
Grand National is the fourth album by the John Butler Trio. Somewhere between 22 to 25 songs were considered for this album, some created during or before Sunrise Over Sea....
and April Uprising
April Uprising (album)
April Uprising is the fifth studio album by Australian Roots band the John Butler Trio. The album was recorded from late 2009-early 2010 in Fremantle, Australia. The album's name comes from Butler's appearance on the television documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are, where he journeyed to...
. His recordings and live performances have met with critical praise and have garnered awards from the Australasian Performing Right Association
Australasian Performing Right Association
The Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
and Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
.
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. He is also the co-founder of a grant program that seeks to improve artistic diversity in his home country of Australia where he resides with his wife and children.
Early life and education
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler (or John Charles Butler) was born on 1 April 1975 in Torrance, CaliforniaTorrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, United States.[A] His Australian father, Darryl Wiltshire-Butler, and American mother, Barbara (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Butler – unrelated) divorced and Butler migrated to Western Australia with his father, brother and sister in January 1986. He was named after his paternal grandfather, John Wiltshire-Butler, a forestry worker who died fighting a bushfire in Nannup
Nannup, Western Australia
Nannup is a town and shire in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the crossroads of Vasse Highway and Brockman Highway, linking Nannup to most of the Lower South West's regional centres...
. He moved to the small town of Pinjarra
Pinjarra, Western Australia
Pinjarra is a town in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, from the state capital, Perth and south-east of the coastal city of Mandurah. Its local government area is the Shire of Murray. At the 2006 census, Pinjarra had a population of 3,279.Pinjarra is an area...
when he was eleven, and he attended the local primary and secondary schools.
Butler began playing guitar at the age of sixteen after his grandmother gave him a 1930s dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
belonging to his deceased grandfather. In 1996, Butler attended Curtin University in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and enrolled in an art teaching course but abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music.
Career
John Butler was a buskerBusking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
on the streets of Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
playing his own compositions. In mid-1996, he released a self-recorded cassette of his instrumentals, Searching for Heritage
Searching for Heritage
Searching for Heritage is a cassette tape that John Butler recorded and sold while he was busking on the street of Fremantle in 1996. It is a collection of instrumental songs, some of which were re-recorded on the debut self-titled album John Butler. During this time, Butler was usually playing on...
, which sold 3,000 copies. He played different styles of music including "Indian, Celtic, bluegrass and folk". Butler had his first paid performance in 1997 at the Seaview Hotel in Fremantle. In 1998, North Fremantle, Mojos club owner, Phil Stevens, hired Butler as a regular performer. Stevens became his manager and later his business partner.
John Butler Trio
Butler was joined by drummer, Jason McCann (Mojos sound engineer) and bass player Gavin ShoesmithGavin Shoesmith
Gavin Shoesmith is an Australian singer songwriter and virtuoso double bassist who rose to fame as bass guitarist in the John Butler Trio.He initially formed an organic dance music band called Katamaran, based in Darwin. Alongside Shoesmith on double bass, the band comprised Mark Hoffman on...
to form the John Butler Trio
John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio are an eclectic roots and jam band from Australia led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums and Gavin Shoesmith on bass guitar...
and recorded the John Butler
John Butler (album)
-Release history:-Personnel:* John Butler - resonator [Dobro] guitar , guitar [11 string], vocals* Gavin Shoesmith - bass guitar and double bass* Jason McGann - percussion-Credits:* Arrangements, Artwork, Producer - John Butler...
album which was released on Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, that released recordings by some of Australia's most influential bands of the 1980s and 1990s.-History:...
in December 1998. At various times the members of the John Butler Trio included drummers Michael Barker
Michael Barker (drummer)
Michael Barker is a New Zealand percussion musician best known for performing with many Australasian acts, including The John Butler Trio and Split Enz.-Early musical education:...
(2003–2009) and Nicky Bomba
Nicky Bomba
Nicholas Caruana aka Nicky Bomba is an Australian musician and singer. He is the frontman of his band Bomba as well as the drummer and percussionist of John Butler Trio and has also performed with several other artists. He is also a solo artist.-Biography:Bomba's family migrated to Australia late...
, bass players Rory Quirk (2001–2002), Andrew Fry (April 2002-November 2002), Shannon Birchall
Shannon Birchall
Shannon Birchall is an Australian born musician, probably best known as the bassist for jam band the John Butler Trio. Birchall is often labeled a virtuoso by different music experts. He is also known for composing and conducting the string sections of the John Butler Trio's...
(2002–2009) and Byron Luiters. The band's musical style was influenced by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
and Jeff Lang
Jeff Lang
Jeff Lang is an Australian songwriter, singer and slide guitarist. A leading performer in the Australian roots music scene and purveyer of his self-described "disturbed folk" style, which incorporates primarily folk, blues and rock...
. The band toured throughout Western Australia in 1999.
The band's second album, Three
Three (The John Butler Trio album)
Three is the second studio album of Australian jam band The John Butler Trio.All the music and lyrics written and arranged by John Butler. The album was recorded, engineered and mixed by Shaun O'Callaghan at Studio Couch, North Fremantle, Western Australia. It was mastered at Woodstock Studios by...
, was produced by Butler and Shaun O'Callaghan. It was released and distributed on Waterfront Records in April 2001. It featured the tracks "Take" and "Betterman", which both received radio airplay on the Australian alternative youth radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
and rated in its annual Top 100. The band appeared at the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
concert series and the Woodford Folk Festival.
In July 2002, Jarrah Records was created by Butler, members of fellow Western Australian act The Waifs
The Waifs
The Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by Josh Cunningham , and sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson...
and their common manager, Stevens. Being a partner in a record label allowed Butler to maximise artistic control of his recordings.
The song "Zebra" was released as a single in December 2003 and received mainstream radio airplay and reached the top 30 on the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. It was selected as 'Song of the Year' at the 2004 APRA Awards. The album, Sunrise Over Sea
Sunrise over Sea
Sunrise Over Sea is the third album of The John Butler Trio and the fifth featuring John Butler. It was released in March 2004.- Conception and production :...
, was released in March 2004 and peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was the first independently released and distributed album to debut at No. 1 and Butler received the ARIA 'Best Male Artist' award that same year.
In September 2006, John Butler Trio released a promotional studio diary of the recording progress of their next album, Grand National
Grand National (album)
Grand National is the fourth album by the John Butler Trio. Somewhere between 22 to 25 songs were considered for this album, some created during or before Sunrise Over Sea....
, which was released in March 2007 and peaked at No. 1. In December 2006, Funky Tonight (EP) was released and included tracks from their live shows, such as "Daniella", "Fire in the Sky", and "Funky Tonight
Funky Tonight
"Funky Tonight" is the first single by the John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album, Grand National. It was released in December, 2006, on Jarrah Records. The song blends funk, roots, blues, and rock...
". The band performed at the Melbourne entertainment hub, Federation Square
Federation Square
Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
at Easter 2007. The one off performance featured musicians who had collaborated on Grand National, including Vika and Linda Bull
Vika and Linda
Vika and Linda Bull are a sister vocal duo who came to prominence after being asked to sing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The Black Sorrows.-Biography:...
, Jex Saarhelart and Nicky Bomba. The performance was telecast on JTV
JTV
JTV is a commercial cable television station serving the Jackson County, Michigan metropolitan area, which has a population of approximately 162,000. It considers 120,000 of these people its primary audience. The station began in July 2000. Since the area is not well served by Lansing based...
and was released on DVD in November.
On 29 June, Butler gave a live solo performance at Twist and Shout Records in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, which was released in January 2008 as an eight track EP, One Small Step
One Small Step (album)
One Small Step , is a live album by John Butler, well known as the leader of the John Butler Trio. It features 8 tracks, all previously released on studio albums with the Trio, recorded at Twist & Shout Records in Colorado, USA...
, with AUD
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
$1 from each record sold being donated to Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
's "Close the Gap" campaign. One Small Step was Butler's first official solo release. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007
ARIA Music Awards of 2007
The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event...
, Butler performed "Funky Tonight" in a collaboration with fellow Australian musician Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
. Radio station, Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's listeners voted Grand National their favourite album for 2007.
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
Rothbury Music Festival
The Rothbury Festival is a four-day jam band music festival in Rothbury, Michigan at the Double JJ Resort. The festival first occurred in 2008 during the Independence Day holiday weekend. In addition to music and arts, the festival is intended to promote sustainability and promote overall...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and The Mile High Music Festival
Mile High Music Festival
The Mile High Music Festival is an annual two-day concert held in Commerce City, Colorado at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, first done on July 19 and 20, 2008...
in Denver. In North America he sold out headline shows in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Los Angeles. In Europe, Butler played at the Folies Bergère in Paris and London's Union Chapel
Union Chapel
-United States:National Register of Historical Places*Pine Orchard Union Chapel, Branford, CT, listed on the NRHP in Connecticut*East Raymond Union Chapel, East Raymond, ME, listed on the NRHP in Maine...
. He also performed at Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Antwerp.
Upon his return in August, he took part in the Cannot Buy My Soul concert at the Queensland Music Festival
Queensland Music Festival
The Queensland Music Festival is a series of musical events staged in a number of locations in Queensland, Australia usually around late July, every second year. It is financially supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and a wide range of other partners...
. Butler performed alongside other local musicians (including Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
, Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
, Troy Cassar-Daley
Troy Cassar-Daley
Troy Cassar-Daley is a multi-award-winning country musician from New South Wales, Australia.He released his first EP, "Dream Out Loud", in 1994 and was nominated for his first Golden Guitar for Best Male Vocalist the same year...
, Clare Bowditch
Clare Bowditch
Clare Bowditch is an Australian musician from Melbourne, Victoria. She released her fourth album Modern Day Addiction via Island Records on 13 August 2010. It became both 3RRR Album of the Week and ABC Radio National's Album of the Week. MDA is the first of Bowditch's album's to enter the Top Ten...
, Tex Perkins
Tex Perkins
Tex Perkins is an Australian singer-songwriter, who is widely known for fronting the popular Australian rock-band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James Baker Experience, The Butcher Shop, Salamander Jim, and Tex, Don and Charlie. He has also released many...
and Bernard Fanning
Bernard Fanning
Bernard Joseph Fanning is a musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and frontman of Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010....
) reinterpreting the catalogue of indigenous Australian musician Kev Carmody
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel "Kev" Carmody is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter. His song "From Little Things Big Things Grow" was recorded with co-writer Paul Kelly for their 1993 single; it was covered by the Get Up Mob in 2008 and peaked at #4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association singles...
. His track, "Thou Shalt Not Steal", was released on the compilation album, and later was featured on the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Deluxe album of Grand National
Grand National (album)
Grand National is the fourth album by the John Butler Trio. Somewhere between 22 to 25 songs were considered for this album, some created during or before Sunrise Over Sea....
. Butler participated at the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures
Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures
The Garma Festival of Traditional Culture is an annual festival that is held in north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a celebration of the cultural inheritance of the Yolngu people.-History:...
located in Northeast Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
.
On 21 October, Butler featured on SBS Television's documentary called Destination Australia – Bridge Between Two Worlds performing to refugee children in a class at Perth's Highgate Primary School. Butler's genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
was described on an episode of SBS Television's series, Who Do You Think You Are?
Who Do You Think You Are? (Australian TV series)
Who Do You Think You Are? is an Australian television documentary series, based on the BBC series of the same name, airing on SBS One. SBS first aired six episodes of the BBC series in late 2007, followed by six Australian episodes beginning 13 January 2008, and then six more from the original BBC...
, which aired on 1 November. The show traced his family history from his deceased grandfather – reading war diaries – through to ancestors in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and the events of the 1876 April Uprising
April Uprising
The April Uprising was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878...
, which provided the title for the trio's next No. 1 album, April Uprising
April Uprising (album)
April Uprising is the fifth studio album by Australian Roots band the John Butler Trio. The album was recorded from late 2009-early 2010 in Fremantle, Australia. The album's name comes from Butler's appearance on the television documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are, where he journeyed to...
, issued in March 2010. Butler performed "How to Make Gravy
How to Make Gravy
How to Make Gravy is a four-track EP by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly and was originally released in 1996 on White Label Records in Australia....
" and the Kev Carmody
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel "Kev" Carmody is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter. His song "From Little Things Big Things Grow" was recorded with co-writer Paul Kelly for their 1993 single; it was covered by the Get Up Mob in 2008 and peaked at #4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association singles...
/Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
song "From Little Things Big Things Grow
From Little Things Big Things Grow
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a rock protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album Comedy, and by Kev Carmody on his 1993 album Bloodlines. It was released as a CD single by Carmody and Kelly in 1993 but failed to chart...
" (with Carmody, Kelly, Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
and Dan Sultan
Dan Sultan
Dan Sultan is an Australian singer and songwriter. Sultan plays what he calls country soul rock ‘n’ roll.-Biography:Daniel Leo Sultan was born in 1983 and grew up in Williamstown, Melbourne. His father was Irish and his mother, Roslyn Sultan, was Aboriginal from the Arrernte and Gurindji people...
) at the Kelly tribute concerts staged by Triple J in mid-November 2009, which was released as the 2010 live album Before Too Long.
On 19 February 2011, Butler performed for the first time with his wife, also known as, Mama Kin, under the moniker, Brave and the Bird, at the Gimme Shelter event (an annual fundraiser for the homeless) held at the Fremantle Arts Centre
Fremantle Arts Centre
Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation, offering a program of exhibitions, residencies, art courses and music in a historic building in the heart of Fremantle, Western Australia....
.
Equipment and technique
Butler plays harmonica, didgeridooDidgeridoo
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
, drums, lap-steel, banjo and amplified acoustic guitars and removes the higher octave G string on his 12-string guitar. Butler prefers the Maton
Maton
Maton is an Australian manufacturer of guitars and other fretted musical instruments.Maton was founded in 1946 as the Maton Musical Instruments Company by Bill May and his brother Reg...
12-string guitar and often uses a Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
SA-6 Mag Mic pickup with a Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
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. Butler uses long, pointed acrylic fingernails for finger picking.
Personal life
John Butler is married to Danielle Caruana, an Australian musician and vocalist who performs under the name of Mama Kin. They have two children, a daughter named Banjo, and a son named Jahli.After wearing dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
for 13 years, Butler cut them off in early 2008. In an interview with Herald Sun in 2008 Butler acknowledged that he had been referred to as the "million dollar hippie" in various articles and around his hometown in Australia. The nickname refers to his inclusion on the Business Review Weekly
Business Review Weekly
BRW is an Australian weekly business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. It regularly compiles lists which rank corporations and individuals according to various criteria, similar to Fortune magazine in the United States.BRW provides news and commentary on the economy, business and...
(BRW's) list of 50 richest entertainers in 2004 with reported earnings of $2.4 million.
Charities and causes
John Butler is an advocate of peace, environmental protection, and global harmony. He has supported The Wilderness SocietyThe Wilderness Society (Australia)
The Wilderness Society is an Australian, community-based, not-for-profit non-governmental environmental advocacy organisation. Its purpose is to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.It is a...
and the Save Ningaloo Reef
Ningaloo Reef
Ningaloo Reef is a fringing coral reef located off the west coast of Australia, approximately 1200 km north of Perth. The reef is 260 km long and is Australia's largest fringing coral reef and the only large reef positioned very close to a landmass....
campaign.
In 2005, Butler and Caruana co-founded the JB Seed grant program – renamed as The Seed in 2010 – to support artistic expression and encourage the "social, cultural and artistic diversity in Australian society". The couple contributed $80,000 to establish the project. Other supporters include Paul Kelly, Correne Wilkie (Manager, The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire are an Australian ska and jazz band formed in 1999. Core members are Harry James Angus , Will Hull-Brown , Jamshid "Jumps" Khadiwhala , Ollie McGill , Ryan Monro and Felix Riebl...
), Paul and Michelle Gilding (Ecoscorp), Maureen Ritchie, Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
, John Watson (Eleven Music), John Woodruff (JWM Productions), Sebastian Chase (MGM Distribution
MGM Distribution
MGM Distribution is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase....
), Philip Stevens (Jarrah Records), The Waifs and Blue King Brown
Blue King Brown
Blue King Brown are a Melbourne-based, Australian urban roots band. They have released a self-titled EP and a full length album, Stand Up . They released their follow-up Worldwize Part 1 - North & South on 20 August 2010...
APRA Awards
The APRA AwardsAPRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).
|-
| 2004
APRA Awards of 2004
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2004 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 24 May at Melbourne's Regent Theatre, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| "Zebra" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Song of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2006
APRA Awards of 2006
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2006 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 5 June at the Sydney Four Seasons Hotel, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| "Something's Gotta Give" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "What You Want
What You Want
What You Want is the second commercially available single/EP by Australian jam band the John Butler Trio from the album Sunrise Over Sea...
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2008
APRA Awards of 2008
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2008 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 16 June at the Sydney Hilton, they were presented by APRA and the Australasian...
|| "Better Than
Better Than
"Better Than" is an alternative rock single/extended play by Australian jam band The John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album, Grand National...
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Song of the Year ||
|-
| "Funky Tonight
Funky Tonight
"Funky Tonight" is the first single by the John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album, Grand National. It was released in December, 2006, on Jarrah Records. The song blends funk, roots, blues, and rock...
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Blues & Roots Work of the Year ||
|-
| "Good Excuse
Good Excuse
"Good Excuse" is a promotional only release by Australian jam band, The John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album Grand National."Good Excuse" was released in March 2007 in Australia by Jarrah Records and in the United States by Atlantic Records....
" (John Butler) – The John Butler Trio || Blues & Roots Work of the Year ||
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music AwardsARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The John Butler Trio have won five awards from twenty-one nominations (see John Butler Trio awards). Butler has won a further ARIA award for 'Best Male Artist' in 2004
ARIA Music Awards of 2004
The 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex...
from six nominations in that category.
|-
|| 2001
ARIA Music Awards of 2001
The 15th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 30 October 2001 at the Capitol Theatre.-Awards:...
|| Three
Three (The John Butler Trio album)
Three is the second studio album of Australian jam band The John Butler Trio.All the music and lyrics written and arranged by John Butler. The album was recorded, engineered and mixed by Shaun O'Callaghan at Studio Couch, North Fremantle, Western Australia. It was mastered at Woodstock Studios by...
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
| |2003
ARIA Music Awards of 2003
The 17th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 21 October 2003 at the Sydney Superdome.-ARIA Awards:*Album of the Year**Powderfinger – Vulture Street...
|| Living 2001-2002
Living 2001-2002
-Personnel:* John Butler — electrified/acoustic 11 string guitars, vocals and percussion on "Take"* Rory Quirk — electric bass, double bass and percussion on "take"* Jason McGann — drums, percussion, backing vocals...
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2004
ARIA Music Awards of 2004
The 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex...
|| Sunrise Over Sea
Sunrise over Sea
Sunrise Over Sea is the third album of The John Butler Trio and the fifth featuring John Butler. It was released in March 2004.- Conception and production :...
|| Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2005
ARIA Music Awards of 2005
The 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney Superdome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the previous year's innovation of televising the awards on Sunday evening...
|| "Somethings Gotta Give
Somethings Gotta Give (song)
"Somethings Gotta Give" is a 2004 single written by John Butler and performed by the John Butler Trio. Released on 6 December 2004, in Australia only, "Somethings Gotta Give" is a blend of funk, rock, blues, roots, and the traditional sound of a jam band...
" || Best Male Artist ||
|-
|| 2007
ARIA Music Awards of 2007
The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event...
|| Grand National
Grand National (album)
Grand National is the fourth album by the John Butler Trio. Somewhere between 22 to 25 songs were considered for this album, some created during or before Sunrise Over Sea....
|| Best Male Artist||
|-
|| 2010
ARIA Music Awards of 2010
The 24th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards are a series of award ceremonies which included the 2010 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine Arts Awards and ARIA Awards. The latter ceremony took place on 7 November at the Sydney Opera House and was...
|| April Uprising
April Uprising (album)
April Uprising is the fifth studio album by Australian Roots band the John Butler Trio. The album was recorded from late 2009-early 2010 in Fremantle, Australia. The album's name comes from Butler's appearance on the television documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are, where he journeyed to...
|| Best Male Artist ||
With John Butler Trio
Studio albums- John ButlerJohn Butler (album)-Release history:-Personnel:* John Butler - resonator [Dobro] guitar , guitar [11 string], vocals* Gavin Shoesmith - bass guitar and double bass* Jason McGann - percussion-Credits:* Arrangements, Artwork, Producer - John Butler...
(1998) - ThreeThree (The John Butler Trio album)Three is the second studio album of Australian jam band The John Butler Trio.All the music and lyrics written and arranged by John Butler. The album was recorded, engineered and mixed by Shaun O'Callaghan at Studio Couch, North Fremantle, Western Australia. It was mastered at Woodstock Studios by...
(2001) - Sunrise Over SeaSunrise over SeaSunrise Over Sea is the third album of The John Butler Trio and the fifth featuring John Butler. It was released in March 2004.- Conception and production :...
(2004) - Grand NationalGrand National (album)Grand National is the fourth album by the John Butler Trio. Somewhere between 22 to 25 songs were considered for this album, some created during or before Sunrise Over Sea....
(2007) - April UprisingApril Uprising (album)April Uprising is the fifth studio album by Australian Roots band the John Butler Trio. The album was recorded from late 2009-early 2010 in Fremantle, Australia. The album's name comes from Butler's appearance on the television documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are, where he journeyed to...
(2010)
Solo
- Searching for HeritageSearching for HeritageSearching for Heritage is a cassette tape that John Butler recorded and sold while he was busking on the street of Fremantle in 1996. It is a collection of instrumental songs, some of which were re-recorded on the debut self-titled album John Butler. During this time, Butler was usually playing on...
(1996) - Live At Twist & ShoutTwist & Shout RecordsTwist & Shout Records is a record store located in the Congress Park neighborhood on east Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado. It is home to the largest independently owned record collection in Denver.-References:...
(2007) - One Small StepOne Small Step (album)One Small Step , is a live album by John Butler, well known as the leader of the John Butler Trio. It features 8 tracks, all previously released on studio albums with the Trio, recorded at Twist & Shout Records in Colorado, USA...
(2007) Australian release of Live At Twist & Shout