The John Butler Trio is amazing. This Australian group first got together in 1998 and began playing small bars and local venues. The original members have since been replaced and now, when performing live,
Shannon Birchall is on the bass, Michael Barker is on the drums and John
Butler is on the guitar.Their music has been classified as indie rock or sometimes just labeled
as hippie music. The trio started in 1998 with their release of their first album entitled “John Butler.”
Then they went on to release “JBT,” “Three,” “Living,” his hit single “Zebra,” “Sunrise Over Sea,” which has hit number one charts over in Australia,and their most recent album released in early August, “What You Want.”
John Butlerʼs lyrics are socially inspired. With political concerns voiced in songs such as “Life Ainʼt What It Seems” and “Media,” the trio has made
it clear that they want their fans to get involved in the system and not be fooled by it.
Anyone who has seen John Butler live will tell you that he has long finger nails on his right hand that are used for his unique finger picking style on
the guitar. His long nails allow him to be able to pick faster and achieve a completely unique sound all his own.
Overall, “What You Want,” is a pretty solid album but hardly justifies the bands talent. With only five songs on the CD, there is a lot more to be heard of The John Butler Trio.
John Butler is an amazing guitar player, which he displays in the track “Betterman.” The trio also did a great job covering The Beatlesʼ song
“Across The Universe.” If the listener really wants to get a
taste for The John Butler Trio, their previous release “Sunrise Over Sea” would probably be the best way to go because “What You Want” is limited by the number of songs that are on it.