The JOHN BUTLER TRIO’s new release April Uprising has been a huge success. Of course it has. That’s what John Butler Trio releases are. First they are made with the complete artistic control afforded by being an independent artist (Butler owns and operates his own label, Jarrah Records). Then they sell in quantities matched by only a handful of other Australian artists. And then a sizeable chunk of the profits are channelled into the arts grant program, The Seed, that Butler runs with his partner Danielle Caruana. It’s an impressive virtuous circle.
So it’s little wonder that he sounds like he’s in a good mood as he talks to me from his home in Freemantle, Western Australia. “I’m good, man,” he says in his curious hybrid accent. “I’m really proud of the record and really excited to be touring with the new material. We just want everyone to hear it.”
Butler has been so successful for such a long time that it’s easy to forget how remarkable his success is. He has sold nearly a million albums in Australia and has sold out every show on his last seven years of touring. He’s played on Leno. Better still, he’s played ... READ MORE »
