John Butler Trio in Bellingham
WORDS/PHOTOS: MATT MCDONALD
The small venue of the Nightlight was perfect for the John Butler Trio.
John Butler (guitar and vocals), Michael Barker (drums and percussion) Shannon Birchall (bass and double bass) were amazing.
Bellingham was the second to last stop on the Good Excuse North American tour. The tour kicked off Nov. 1 in Indianapolis. John Butler spoke to GOBham on Nov. 22.
Q: Where are you right now?
A: Kansas City.
Q: How's Kansas City?
A: Kansas City is good, it’s just not in Kansas, which I thought was kind of interesting.
Q: How has the Good Excuse North American tour been so far?
A: It’s been great. We have been pretty much selling out every place we have been going. The audiences have been good, we’ve played well, I am eating, I get sleep, life is good.
Q: You are on a U.S. tour that goes to major cities such as Seattle, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and L.A. How did Bellingham make the cut?
A: I am not my agent and I am not my manager, so they just put together a tour that works. It seems like it just worked that we came to your town. To tell you the truth, it’s like you are kinda trying to stitch the whole country together.
Q: How large have the other venues been?
A: 1,500 to 2,500.
Q: You were born in California and then moved to Australia. When and why did you move?
A: When I was a kid. My dad is Australian and he wanted to move home. I think my mom and dad wanted to get their kids out of L.A. They thought it was a good time to move to Australia and move at a different pace.
Q: How do shows in the U.S. compare to Australia?
A: You can play a lot more gigs in America. There are a lot more people and people are closer together. You guys have somewhere around 270 million. In Australia we have something like 23 million. The countries are around the same (land) size, but in Australia we fly everywhere because everybody lives days apart. Over here you can just jump on a bus. It’s good in that sense and the audiences are fairly similar. American culture is very enthusiastic, which we are highly appreciative of. It’s nice to come from somewhere else and feel like you are at home and people are really digging what you are doing. We love coming to America. They are ready to get into this. It’s good.
Q: What genre of music do you classify John Butler Trio as?
A: There is a lot of different stuff getting around. I think a lot of people call it distorted folk music or distorted funky folk music. I kinda call it funky roots rock.
Q: What musicians have influenced your music?
A: Anyone I have ever heard has influenced me whether it’s what to do or what not to do. Anything from Justin Timberlake, whom I like, Nelly Furtado, Eminem, to Q-tip and the Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Johnny Cash, Soundgar-den, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Damien Marley, classic Indian culture music. Pretty much all of it.
Q: What influences your music?
A: I am inspired by my family. By the love of my family. It completely transformed my life. It made me a different person in all of the best ways possible. It’s hard not to be touched and not to write about it. If you are looking at the war or at this world all the things that really move me emotionally end up making it into my art in some way or another.
Q: What are your plans for after the tour?
A: We are going to do another tour in Australia and then a summer tour in America.
Q: Where do you see the band going in the future?
A: It’s always expanding. It’s always changing. I am more and more being influenced by the beats that I hear in my head, the hip hop beats, using those straight beats and putting them with the writing that I have.

SHOW REVIEW: John Butler Trio is stuck in my head
Matt McDonald is the online editor of GOBham.com.

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