John Butler Trio

Did You Know?

• The song 'Zebra' was voted No. 7 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 and was the first John Butler Trio single to gain significant airplay on commercial FM radio across Australia.
• John Butler and his wife Danielle Caruana inaugurated the JB Seed grant program in 2005 to help Australian artists establish themselves.
• The track 'Betterman' was voted number 47 by the Australian public in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time in July 2009.

History

John Butler got his start playing music on the streets of Fremantle, Western Australia, and in 1996 he put out a self-recorded cassette called Searching for Heritage. Meanwhile, Gavin Shoesmith, who had previously started the band Katamaran in Darwin with Mark Hoffman on didgeridoo and Grant Smith on percussion, teamed up with Butler and drummer Jason McGann in Fremantle in 1998 to create the John Butler Trio. That December, the group independently released the album John Butler, which Butler produced and which featured new versions of two songs from his earlier cassette.

After touring Western Australia in 1999, the Waifs asked Butler to open for them as a solo act on their Australian tour, and he also played his own shows. The trio then hit the road themselves, and during that tour Butler met his future wife, Danielle Caruana, in Broome. In April 2000, the band put out a four-song EP called JBT, produced by Butler and Shaun O'Callaghan, with tracks kept short to get radio airplay. Triple J put the song "Pickapart" into heavy rotation.

The group built a bigger following after playing the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Byron Bay in 2000. Butler remembered that his first show there drew about 50 people, and the second started the same way until a heavy rainstorm drove 3,000 people into their tent, making the performance explode. The John Butler Trio became a regular act at that festival. In April 2001, they released the album Three and moved to Melbourne to promote it on the east coast.

Triple J put the song "Betterman" into heavy rotation. Three reached number 24 on the ARIA Charts and spent nine months on the alternative charts, peaking at number 3. At the 2001 ARIA Music Awards, the album won Best Independent Release. "Betterman" came in at number 5 on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2001.

Shoesmith left the band to start his own group, the Groovesmiths. Butler replaced him with 19-year-old Rory Quirk, who played on the trio's first US tour in 2001. Quirk left in 2002 to focus on his band Quirk, and Andrew Fry took over on bass.

Awards and nominations

The John Butler Trio have received numerous nominations and awards from the Australian Independent Record Awards (AIR Awards), the APRA Awards, and the ARIA Music Awards. At the AIR Awards, the band won Best Performing Independent Album for Live at St. Gallen in 2006, and in 2007 they won Best Performing Independent Album and Best Independent Blues and Roots Album for Grand National, as well as Independent Artist of the Year and Best Performing Independent Single/EP for 'Funky Tonight'.

In 2010 they were named Most Popular Independent Artist, and in 2014 they won Best Independent Blues and Roots Album for Flesh & Blood and Independent Artist of the Year. In 2019, Home won Best Independent Blues and Roots Album. At the APRA Awards, 'Zebra' was nominated for Song of the Year in 2004. In 2006, 'Somethings Gotta Give' and 'What You Want' both won Most Performed Blues & Roots Work.

In 2008, 'Better Than' was nominated for Song of the Year, while 'Funky Tonight' and 'Good Excuse' won Blues & Roots Work of the Year. In 2010, 'One Way Road' was nominated for Song of the Year. In 2011, 'Revolution' was nominated for Song of the Year; 'Close to You' won Blues & Roots Work of the Year and Most Played Australian Work; and 'One Way Road' won Blues & Roots Work of the Year and Most Played Australian Work. In 2014, 'Only One' was nominated for Song of the Year and won Blues & Roots Work of the Year.

In 2015, 'Livin' in the City' won Blues & Roots Work of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year. In 2019, 'Home' was nominated for Song of the Year, and in 2020 'Just Call' won Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year. At the ARIA Music Awards, the band have won six awards from twenty-eight nominations. In 2001, Three won Best Blues & Roots Album, Best Independent Release, and Breakthrough Artist – Album, while the John Butler Trio EP won Breakthrough Artist – Single.

In 2003, Living 2001-2002 won Best Blues & Roots Album and Best Independent Release. In 2004, Sunrise Over Sea was nominated for Best Cover Art.