For a laid back kind of guy, John Butler has a lot to juggle these days.
If you go
John Butler Trio with State Radio, Angus & Julia
Where: Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Art, Filene Center, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Info: $30 to $75; 877-965-3872; wolf-trap.org
It’s easy to see how media appearances, touring and creating new music — combined with fan expectations plus all the day-to-day family obligations we all face — could stall a creative spirit. Butler, though, said his three-year absence from releasing new music is more about him than any outside pressure. “I have always just tried to make the album I wanted to make,” Butler said as he drove to a recent gig, his young son fussing loudly near him. “I near really tried to keep the fans happy.”
That commitment to self is, of course, what likely does keep Butler in demand. Now touring with a new line up and a new album, Butler has garnered plenty of positive reviews for what critics call sophisticated mix of guitar stylings, hip hop beats, and socially conscious lyrics on the album, “April Uprising.”
“When I think about making the art, I knew I wanted to write in a lot of different ways,” Butler said. “Some of the late tracks…I demo’d by myself on a computer and then we recorded them and fleshed them out. Ever song is different; every one is a wild horse you put a saddle on differently to ride it and take it town and show everyone. The trick is to [decide] exactly how it should be ridden.”
For Butler, though, music is also about something more universal. He approaches it as another way to keep balance in his life and extending that balance to others.
“It’s moving more toward a universal kind of music,” Butler, a Los Angeles-born, Australia-raised singer-songwriter, said about the new release. “The whole thing, the way I look at the world, the way I see myself, the way I see the band, it’s all becoming a bit more worldly and encompassing rather than being too specific.”
That’s how the new line up developed, he said. A creative magic developed when he and brother-in-law Nicky Bomba, who fronts his own band called Bomba, jammed. When the two added bassist Byron Luiters, the sound became complete.
“It’s a chemistry thing; We’re always looking for a heightened sense of chemistry and that is something special that can’t be explained,” Butler said. “We all love good songs and that what makes this band special; but all [the line ups] have been special.”
