The John Butler Trio were an Australian roots-rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vocals. By 2009, the trio consisted of Butler with Byron Luiters on bass and Nicky Bomba on drums and percussion, the latter being replaced by Grant Gerathy in 2013. After both Luiters and Gerathy exited the trio in early 2019, bassist OJ Newcomb and drummer Terepai Richmond (also of The Whitlams) joined the band, accompanied by touring musician Elana Stone on keyboards, percussion and backing vocals.
The band's second studio album, Three (2001) reached the top 30 in the Australian album charts and achieved platinum sales. The band's subsequent studio albums: Sunrise Over Sea (2004); Grand National (2007); and April Uprising (2010) all debuted at the number one position on the Australian album charts, with all three albums reaching platinum sales status. Living 2001–2002 (2003), the band's first live album, reached the top ten and also achieved platinum status in Australia. The band's second live album, Live at St. Gallen (2005), also achieved gold record status. The band's releases since 2002 have been marketed independently by Jarrah Records, which Butler co-owns with West Australian folk band the Waifs and manager of both acts, Philip Stevens. Their final studio album, Home, was released in 2018.
History
Early career
The John Butler Trio is fronted by John Butler on vocals and guitars. He started his career as a busker in Fremantle, Western Australia and released a self-recorded cassette, Searching for Heritage in 1996. Gavin Shoesmith on double bass and bass guitar founded Katamaran in Darwin with Mark Hoffman on didgeridoo and Grant Smith on percussion.[1] With Butler, Shoesmith and Jason McGann on drums, John Butler Trio was formed in Fremantle in 1998 and independently released the John Butler album in December.[2] It was produced by Butler and included re-recorded versions of two tracks from his Searching for Heritage.
The trio toured throughout Western Australia in 1999, then The Waifs invited Butler to perform solo on their Australian tour – he also performed his own gigs. The John Butler Trio then launched their own tour where Butler met his future wife Danielle Caruana in Broome.
The John Butler Trio released the four-track extended play, JBT, in April 2000 with songs short enough to win radio play. It was produced by Butler and Shaun O'Callaghan.[2] Radio station Triple J chose the track "Pickapart" to put on high rotation. The band began to develop a wider reputation with a performance at the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Byron Bay in 2000.[3] Butler recalled that his first gig had about 50 people, the second gig started the same way when "it absolutely pissed with rain and 3000 people ran into our tent. And the show just went berserk. It was like a suffocated fire – you lift the lid and it explodes".[3] The John Butler Trio has become a regular artist at the annual event.[3]
Three
In April 2001, John Butler Trio released Three and relocated to Melbourne to promote the record on the east coast. The track, "Betterman", was on high rotation by Triple J.[4]Three peaked at No. 24 on the ARIA Charts.[5] It also remained on the alternative charts for nine months reaching No. 3. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 the album won an award for 'Best Independent Release'.[6] "Betterman" reached No. 5 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2001.
Shoesmith left the trio to form his own band, The Groovesmiths, Butler replaced him with 19-year-old Rory Quirk, who was on their first tour of the United States in 2001. Quirk, in turn, left in 2002 to pursue a career with his band, Quirk. Andrew Fry joined as the next bass player.
As a result of intensive touring, the band developed a great live reputation in Australia. The band released Living 2001-2002 in February 2003, a double live album which had a top ten debut in the ARIA album charts and went on to achieve platinum sales. Butler took a brief break after five years of solid work since 1997 for the birth of his daughter Banjo.
John Butler told the Australian edition of Rolling Stone released in April 2004 that he wanted greater freedom to pursue his vision. "Essentially what I learnt out of this process was, more so than ever, I'm the keeper of the music. I have the intuition and the foresight to pick the right players to my music. I've learned it's not always about having the same players for five, six or 10 years, it's having the right chemistry for these songs at this time. Some of my favourite Jimi Hendrix music is off-the-cuff stuff with Band of Gypsies."[This quote needs a citation]
The title Sunrise Over Sea is taken from the lyrics to the second track, Peaches and Cream. The album debuted at number one in the national album charts on 15 March 2004 and achieved gold record status in its first week of release.
The Zebra EP was released in December 2003 and made the ARIA singles charts in early 2004. The song was voted No. 7 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 and also was the first John Butler Trio single to gain significant airplay on commercial FM radio across Australia, although it was still quite popular on Triple J.
John Butler would win an Australasian Performing Right Association award for Song of the Year in March 2004. On 20 October 2006, the track also appeared as the opening music for the episode 'Traffic' (Season 3, Episode 5) of the popular US Crime drama Numb3rs.
In 2005 John Butler and co-founder Danielle Caruana (his wife) inaugurated the JB Seed grant program. "The Seed aims to help Australian artists from any background, creating art and music across any genre, to establish themselves as self-sustained, professional artists."[8] Caruana also plays independent music, she plays under the name Mama Kin.[9]
John Butler Trio in 2006.
Following the Boxing Day Tsunami, the John Butler Trio appeared at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney, to raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas.
The John Butler Trio played at all venues for the Big Day Out music festival, starting in Auckland, New Zealand on 19 January 2007, and finishing in Perth Western Australia on 4 February.
Grand National
Their fourth studio album, entitled Grand National, was released on 24 March 2007 in Australia and New Zealand, and released on 27 March 2007 in the United States and France. The first single off the album, titled "Funky Tonight", reached a high of No. 15 on the ARIA charts and No. 12 on Triple J Hottest 100 for 2006. A second single, "Better Than," was also released. In conjunction with the American release, the trio scheduled a small American Tour consisting of five cities starting in Los Angeles and ending in New York.
In April 2007 Grand National was the initial album nominated for a J Award by national youth broadcaster Triple J. "Better Than" which was released as the first overseas single from Grand National, reached No. 1 on the Triple A format charts in United States in June 2007. It also reached the top ten international songs at Japanese Radio and has been a major radio hit in France where the video made MTV's video of the week.
In 2007, the John Butler Trio won the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award[10] for Best Performing Independent Album as well as Best Independent Release and Best Blues and Roots Album at the ARIA Awards.
On 3 August 2008 they performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The John Butler Trio concluded the summer of 2008 touring the U.S. with G. Love and Special Sauce.
On 26 March 2009 John Butler announced that the current bass and drum musicians of the John Butler Trio, Shannon Birchall and Michael Barker are separating from the band.[12] For purely artistic reasons, John feels that it is necessary to change the line up in an attempt by John to discover new inspirations with new members. John stated in his announcement;
Michael and Shannon have been by far the best line up I have performed with in The John Butler Trio to date. They have been a pleasure to live, love, learn, record and tour with. Their professionalism, musicianship, and commitment have been unwavering and for that and a whole lot more I am truly thankful.
— John Butler, 2009
Michael Barker went on to form Swamp Thing with guitarist/singer Grant Haua, based in New Zealand. Their first album Balladeer was released in May 2011.
April Uprising
On 30 June 2009 John Butler announced the new bass and drum musicians of the John Butler Trio to be Byron Luiters as the bassist and Nicky Bomba as the drummer and percussionist. Bomba, Butler's brother-in-law, had previously been a member of the John Butler Trio.[13]
The new line-up has spent the last few months in a studio in Fremantle, recording the band's fifth studio album, which was released 26 March 2010. The album will be called April Uprising, named after Butler's voyage to find his ancestors on SBS Television's genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?.[14][15] The recording process for the new album has been shared with fans via a special studio sessions page on the band's website. The first single from the album, "One Way Road", was released on 4 December 2009. Butler described the song as being
the combination of pretty much most of my musical influences; dancehall, roots & rock. Some how we found a way to bring all these feels in a way that sounds natural and not too contrived or cerebral. I'm really happy with how we captured the vibe of this song.[16]
The band, according to billboard.com, recorded twenty two songs at Butler's home based studio in Fremantle, this was eventually cut down to the fifteen that appear on the album.[17] The album was released in Australia, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and The Netherlands on 26 March 2010, in New Zealand and France on 29 March, in the UK on 5 April, and in the USA / Canada on 6 April.
April Uprising debuted at No. 1 on the Australian ARIA albums chart on 5 April[5] and whilst the first two singles from the album, "One Way Road" and "Close to You", charted at No. 15 and No. 36 on the Australian ARIA singles charts they both reached the top five in the Spins radio airplay charts, the former reaching No. 1.[18]
In 2010, the John Butler Trio received the award for Most Popular Independent Artist at the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards[10] while April Uprising was nominated at the ARIA Awards for 'Best Blues and Roots Album' and 'Best Independent Release'.[6]
In February 2012, John Butler recorded a studio version of the Trio's instrumental single "Ocean", at The Compound in Fremantle, and uploaded it to the band's YouTube channel later in that year.[21][22] The 12-minute video clip went viral, and has accumulated over 35 million views online.[23]
On 31 August 2013, it was announced by John Butler that Nicky Bomba (drums and percussion) will be leaving the band.[24] Subsequently, on 8 October, Butler announced that Grant Gerathy of Ray Mann Three will be the new drummer for the Trio.[25]
John Butler Trio released the first single and title track "Home" in August 2018 ahead of the album, Home, which was released on 28 September.
On March 11, 2019, John Butler Trio announced that Byron Luiters and Grant Gerathy would be leaving the band.[32]
In April 2024, with the release of his solo album Running River, Butler confirmed that the John Butler Trio had dissipated following the conclusion of the Home tour in late 2019.[33]
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.
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). John Butler /John Butler Trio has won five awards.[64]
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result (wins only)
2002
John Butler Trio
Most Popular Local Original Folk Act
Won
John Butler
Most Popular Male Original Vocalist
Won
Most Popular Male Original Guitarist
Won
2003
John Butler Trio
Most Popular Local Original Blues & Roots Act
Won
2014
"Only One" by John Butler Trio
Most Popular Video
Won
References
^Spencer, Chris; Paul McHenry; Zbig Nowara (2007) [1989]. "Shoesmith, Gavin". The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Moonlight Publishing. ISBN978-1-86503-891-9. Note: [on-line] version was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from September 2010, it has an Internal Service Error.
2001 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2001". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2003 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2003". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2004 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2005 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2005". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2006 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2006". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2007 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2007". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2008 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2008". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2010 winners and nominees: "Winners by Year 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2011 winners and nominees: "Winners by Year 2011". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2014 winners and nominees: "Winners By Year 2014". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 30 November 2014.
2019 winners and nominees: "2019 ARIA Award Winners Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 27 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
^"Nominations > Song of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
^"2011 Winners". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
^"Blues & Roots Work of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2014. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
^"Blues & Roots Work of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
