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John Butler is an eclectic performer who finds inspiration in a wide range of world music traditions. Unlike other performers on The Pure Drop, John has never worked within a tradition. Instead, he's borrowed the sounds, instrumentation and feel of different sources and mixed them together to create his own unique style.
John has been influenced by many musical traditions:
- Celtic music — the inspiration behind his use of modal melodies and drones (tunes played over long held bass notes). The song Mist from the album Sunrise Over Sea is a good example of a tune strongly influenced by the Celtic instrumental tradition. John cites the Scottish bagpipe music he heard as a child on Anzac Day as his first exposure to traditional music: ‘I was highly moved by that music and still am. It always gives me the shivers.’
- Indian music — an influence on his guitar improvisation style, and once again his use of drones. The guitar instrumental Ocean is a good example.
- Delta blues — the slide guitar is the quintessential blues instrument, and John’s use of it tinges much of his music with a strong bluesy feel, even though he is less influenced by the song structures and melodic shapes of the blues. John cites Australian blues players such as Ash Grunwald, Jeff Lang and Matt Walker as particular influences on his playing.
- Old-time, bluegrass and hillbilly music — another obvious influence with John’s use of banjo on numerous songs, but also his song structures and melodies. Listen to Damned to Hell for a great example of John Butler in hillbilly mode. John says he came to the music through the work of Gillian Welch, The Reeltime Travelers, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
Traditional music has also influenced John’s love of unusual guitars such as the Dobro resonator guitar, Weissenborn slide guitar and 12-string guitar.
