John Butler: Strings Attached
Talking to The Note over Zoom, the American-Australian singer-songwriter is bubbly, amicably conversational, lit by a halo of sunny curls, and never once lets go of his guitar. The image is fitting, given that he is headlining this year’s Adelaide Guitar Festival, playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre and joined by the ARIA-nominated, award-winning Emma Donovan.
Words Emily Wilson // Photo Kane Hibberd
What initially drew Butler to the guitar – to what has been a career-defining instrument?
“Essentially, rock ‘n’ roll,” he says simply. “Jimi Hendrix is a huge hero of mine. But also, players like Robert Smith from The Cure – he’s a fantastically understated guitarist. And then there’s also the fingerpicking in the Dolly Parton song ‘Jolene’ – the fingerpicking is from another world. For me, back in the day, there was nothing very technical about what I was doing, I was just strumming away. And mainly, writing songs was just a good way of doing a journal entry for me. Music is the way I make sense of the world, and I think I’d be making it and writing songs even if I wasn’t performing.”
Although guitar is essential to Butler’s musical sensibilities now, and essential to the way he navigates the world, he discloses that it “never started that way.”
He explains that he first picked up the guitar when he was 13, but broke his arm twice, which hindered his ability to play. He tried again when he was 15, but his first guitar teacher suddenly made the decision to stop teaching him.
“He didn’t want to teach me anymore but kept teaching all of my friends. He just stopped coming over, it was really weird,” he says. “And that kind of broke my heart. I was just like ‘Fuck guitar.’ And, strangely enough, right about the time I said ‘fuck guitar’ my grandmother gave me my grandfather’s Dobro.”
That was when his connection to the instrument was properly forged. “I was like, ‘Oh, guitar is a good friend.’ And then when I was 21, I discovered open tuning, and then I got addicted.”
Butler was born in California to an Australian father and an American mother. At age 11, after his parents’ divorce, he moved to Western Australia. He considers the effect that the culture has had on his musicality.
Contemplating in silence for a moment, he eventually says, “Something that’s interesting about Australian music in a sense… we have access to all the greatest music in the world, but somehow the isolation allows us to create it a little differently.” Laughing, he describes Australian music as having this “marsupial” quality. “You know what I mean? Like, what a weird animal. Very unique.”
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He taps the neck of his guitar and says, “There’s a fire to how Australians play sometimes that’s quite different. There’s a strange kind of power and depth to it. I think there is something in the water but I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is. It’s more an attitude than a sound.”
Butler has long been known as the face of the John Butler Trio, but recently decided to drop the epithet. Now, he is simply John Butler.
When asked about the decision he says, “I don’t read into it as much as everyone else does. I feel the trio moniker hemmed it in a bit, you know? Like maybe I want to play with 10 people. My very first album was under John Butler – and I just thought returning to that would be a more versatile way of going into the future.”
John Butler’s performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre will see him introducing his brand-new album Prism to audiences live – it is an album that promises to be a true celebration of guitar, and of songwriting itself.
The singer-songwriter gushes about being joined by the illustrious Emma Donovan on the night.
“I first came across Emma from her guesting on some of the Black Arm Band stuff, and heard her amazing voice. She has a depth and a soul to her voice that is one of a kind. And she’s an absolute sweetheart. She’s a good time, a good person, a good mum, a great songwriter, a great singer.”
He bounces the body of his guitar gently on his knee. “And in this day and age, just trying to give more women time in this industry, and more people of colour as well, is a huge part of that. But first and foremost, Emma is just bad-ass. And her music stands the test of time.”
The night is sure to be an absolute highlight of the Adelaide Guitar Festival. To cap off the conversation, Butler weighs in on why Adelaide – a comparatively small city – is in fact home to what is Australia’s largest guitar festival.
“I think they were brave enough to take the initiative,” he says, laughing. “I think that’s the reason. They had the idea. It’s that classic thing of people going, ‘Oh, we could have done that.’ And it’s like, ‘Yeah, but you didn’t. Adelaide did.’”
Catch John Butler as part of Adelaide Guitar Festival 2025 at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Wednesday 10 September. Ticklets on sale now via adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au.
