ENGLISH GUITARIST and singer-songwriter John Smith has just released his new album Great Lakes and is coming to Galway as part of his current Irish tour.
John will play Strange Brew at the Róisín Dubh on Thursday April 11 at 9pm. Great Lakes is the Devon man’s fourth album and since his 2006 debut The Fox and The Monk. He has been called “brilliant” by MOJO; “spellbinding” by Time Out; a “guitar genius” by The Sun; and tipped for greatness by The Sunday Times.
Smith grew up in a fishing village where he was inspired by his father’s copy of Ry Cooder’s Bop Till You Drop. “That really hit me hard,” says John. “Just hearing that really intricate guitar and soulful singing. I just remember not knowing what this thing was, or what it meant, but I knew I wanted more.”
John’s father also got him a guitar and taught him to play Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’. “I remember saying to him ‘How have they made another world with music?’ Then he played me Tom Wait’s ‘Invitation To The Blues’ and the Bert Jansch and John Renbourn album and I was gone,” says John. “I basically stayed in my room practising for eight hours a day until I left home.”
Smith has played support to Richard Hawley and Lisa Hannigan. He is also a sometimes member of Lisa’s band.
Tickets are €10 from www.roisindubh.net, from the Ticket Desk at OMG, Shop Street (formerly Zhivago ), and The Róisín Dubh.
