Introduced to Sarod Master K. Shridhar at the age of 5 when he stayed with his family, John’s music has a distinctly eastern feel, with influences from Shridar as well as through his own travels through Asia. With bottle-neck style blues referencing the likes of Son House and Bukka White and traces of the fingerpicking of John Fahey. All mixed with a dash of psychedelic 60’s rock laden with Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and the ever present influence of Indian ragas; John’s music is a real melting-pot of diverse musical traditions freely hand picked tunes from the Mississippi to the Ganges.
John Fairhurst truly epitomises the modern day wandering blues man. Stories of hunger, listlessness, roaming and reckless abandon are just a prelude to John’s story, something that can only be fully understood in the presence of the man. His magnetic raconteur style and guitar skills spurred him on to tour the globe and entertain crowds at illustrious festivals such as SXSW and Glastonbury to name but a few; his enigmatic stories relayed through his trademark howling vocals; think Captain Beefheart meets Tom Waits. With three independent releases under his belt, he garnered critical acclaim from the offset with The Guardian describing his 2008’s instrumental debut album ‘Joys of Spring’ as “Truly exquisite”. His following releases 2010’s ‘John Fairhurst Band’ and 2012’s ‘Hungry Blues’ were also hailed in similar manner.
2013 unleashed a summer of explosive live shows both in the UK and Europe, John stormed Glastonbury, SXSW, Green Man, Edinburgh Festival, Secret Garden Party, Shambala, Boomtown. With appearances also on the Harley Davidson European Festival and a support tour with Johnny Winter. Between November 2013 and Januray 2014 John entered the studio with a new band and set to work. A new album was recorded between Bristol and London, with Nathan Evans engineering the Bristol sessions and Alex Beitzke producing at Dean Street in London. John is accompanied by old faithful Toby Murray on drums with the addition of Tim Louden on bass.
The album “Salt Water” is a full on electric blues experience with John’s unique voice and guitar in full flow supported by a number of very special guests and is now the second album, after Hungry Blues, with Alex Beitzke on production. It is currently in Post production and release is set for October. Another Bristol musician Pete Episcopo took Tim Louden‘s place on bass and the band have just got back from four memorable concerts at this year’s Glastonbury. John’s music is to appear in the feature film “The beat beneath my feet” Scoop Film’s latest production featuring Luke Perry, Lisa Dillon and Ewen MacIntosh. Which will be present at the London and Toronto Film festivals in Autumn This is the sound of modern British blues….
