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| JOHN SMITH (RECENT DAVID GRAY GUEST) |
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| We are sorry but JOHN SMITH
is not due to perform for a while. |
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John recently guested with LOU RHODES at glee club and also toured with DAVID GRAY including a show at Symphony Hall
New Album - Map or Direction
John Smith is quietly becoming recognised as one of British Folk's most exciting voices, from both solo shows and support slots for the likes of John Renbourn, Davey Graham and John Martyn. His songs of false messiahs, bad/good romance and bloody murder sit on top of his acoustic guitar, whose sound he bends and whose body he hits. Whether it be playing the guitar lap-style like a drum, detuning the strings mid-chorus or just straight-ahead rumbling fingerstyle, his playing has prompted both hushed appreciation and riotous standing ovations across the land.
John has two further previously self-released albums out, 'The Fox and The Monk' and 'Live At The Roundhouse'.
www.myspace.com/johnacousticsmith
MORE ON JOHN SMITH
I have a single. It's a traditional song called "If I Prove False" and It's a duet with the lovely Cara Dillon. Lots of people have been requesting it live for some time now and we've finally got it down on tape. We managed to get the Nashville fiddle legend Stuart Duncan (National Bluegrass Band, O Brother Where Art Thou, etc) to record on it...it will be on iTunes and limited physical release on Proper/Charcoal records.
John has recently contributed a track to the new James Yorkston album, a cover of JY's Banjo Number 2. It's on a limited edition JY covers CD
"Spellbinding" - Time Out
"Too good to be true" - Rock and Reel
"John Smith is the future of acoustic music in this country" - John Renbourn
"One man, a guitar and an incredible voice...mesmerising" - bbc.co.uk
"He sings melodic, epic narratives that are at once haunting and lively...John Smith breaks the old folk paradigm" - Miami Herald
"He possesses a common name but a rare talent" - The Independent
"The playing style he adopts may cause your jaw to hit the floor...a bit of a live showstopper." - Word Magazine
"An object lesson in how taste and imagination always outweigh mere musical virtuosity...unexpected and daring" - The Sunday Times
"John Smith continually swoons audiences with his own strain of nu-folk. It is only a matter of time before he is enormous." - NME
"It's the flashes of colour and virtuosity that he seemingly injects at random that make the record so special" - Acoustic Magazine
John Smith hails from deepest South Devon but now resides on the banks of the Mersey in Liverpool. He may have an unassuming name, but once heard his songs are seldom forgotten.
John is a unique and beguiling tunesmith with a highly original style. Playing his acoustic guitar as both a melodic and percussive instrument, John's playing has prompted both hushed appreciation and riotous standing ovations across the land. John has been busy supporting John Martyn on his recent tours, including the hugely successful Solid Air series of shows. Playing for an audience brought up on Martyn's immortal tunes, John invariably played a blinder, leaving the crowd knowing they had seen something very special.
As for reference points, well take your pick. Already described by folk giant John Renbourn as "the future of acoustic guitar music", John slips comfortably into this country's guitar lineage, rubbing shoulders with names like Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy. However, there’s a keen sense of the contemporary about John's work that links him with the nu-folk sounds of Jose Gonzalez, Adem, Tunng and King Creosote.
Recorded in just ten days, 'The Fox and The Monk’ – his debut album - was released in May 2006 and features many of the songs that have made his name in the smoke-filled caverns of Liverpool's famous music scene. Songs like 'Winter' where John lays the guitar flat across his lap, tapping out a rhythm on it’s body, whilst bass line and melody tumble over the top; or songs like 'Green Man' where the detuning of John's guitar becomes a crucial part of the swooping chorus. John’s string arrangements lend a rich sense of melancholy to tracks like ‘Squares & Circles’, backed by his band of double bass, percussion and strings.
His recent release, Live at the Roundhouse, was recorded at the famous Roundhouse in London while supporting John Martyn there, and documents superbly John’s intimate yet vast live experience.
His unashamed romanticism and warm lyricism pervade the earthy storytelling throughout. ‘Axe Mountain’ details the gory goings-on of a remote village, whilst ‘The Hours’ is a meditation on the fleeting nature of romance – “A touch is the feeling of all the world's kisses/Her eyes are a thousand smiles/Seeing her go after begging her no/I'm as pained as the tide run low”.
John's musical talent is immense but there's a beauty and magic to his songs, which simply can't be taught. This is music of instinct and feeling which you’re bound to love.
"A singular talent" - The Times
"The playing style he adopts may cause your jaw to hit the floor…one hesitates to mention Nick Drake but well, one already has done.” – Word Magazine |
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