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THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h1>\nTHE JOHN BUTLER TRIO\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h1>\nFor more than 15 years, Australian roots-rockers the John Butler Trio have consistently reinvented their blend of acoustic folk and alternative rock. Defying definition has allowed the band to sidestep preconceived notions and stay sonically adventurous. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be limited to a certain type of music,\u201d says frontman and guitarist John Butler. \u201cYou want to do what\u2019s tasteful. You want to have great spirit and integrity\u2014but not get too clever.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the band\u2019s sixth studio album, Flesh and Blood<\/i>, Butler credits his bandmates, bassist Byron Luiters and drummer Grant Gerathy, for turning a basic framework into transcendent art. \u201cIt\u2019s like throwing paint at the canvas, with all these grooves and ideas,\u201d he says. \u201cThere were so many colors you could choose from.\u201d Embracing the band\u2019s musical eccentricity, Butler believes genre distinctions are meaningless. \u201cIf we wanted to rock out, we did,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we wanted tender, fingerpicking folk songs, we\u2019d play those. Sometimes we wanted it to sound like Led Zeppelin on acid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butler\u2019s humble beginnings as a busker on the streets of Western Australia has helped him balance career ambitions with an appreciation for the simpler things in life. \u201cIn the past I\u2019d always been looking over the shoulder of tomorrow,\u201d he says. \u201cI was very motivated and goal-oriented. But I\u2019ve learned to relax. What\u2019s most important to me are my wife and two kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family has long served as a source of inspiration for Butler, who was born in Southern California but moved to Australia at an early age. When he was 16, his grandmother gave him his grandfather\u2019s Dobro guitar, which became like a trusted confidant. \u201cIt was something you could tell your secrets to,\u201d he says. \u201cThis hobby was actually like keeping a diary.\u201d Now an ambassador of Australia\u2019s Maton Guitars, Butler relishes his status as a versatile multi-instrumentalist. His favorite: a custom-designed Maton ECJ85 Jumbo acoustic guitar. \u201cIt\u2019s been a workhorse for me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
After years of touring, Butler, 39, has learned to deliver what an audience wants. \u201cI could play a lot of rarities, but I usually stick to seven or eight songs from the new album,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you go to hear Stevie Wonder, you want to hear \u2018Superstition,\u2019 or if it\u2019s Rage Against the Machine, you want to hear \u2018Bullet in the Head.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
By taking a broader view of his fan base, Butler has endured as the music industry cycled through changes in fashion and style. \u201cWe\u2019ve been lucky to have some longevity,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some people hop on board, but we\u2019re still there in the underground.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Blake Boldt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO\u00a0\u00a0 An Australian favorite shrugs off labels and limits For more than 15 years, Australian roots-rockers the John Butler Trio have consistently reinvented their blend of acoustic folk and alternative rock. Defying definition has allowed the band to sidestep preconceived notions and stay sonically adventurous. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be limited to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[4525,7652,7645],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14577"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14620,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577\/revisions\/14620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}