John Smith
28 November / 19:30 / More Info / Buy Tickets
John Smith is the guitar man from Devon who has quietly become one of the most exciting voices on the new British folk scene. Touring relentlessly as headliner and support act, he has opened shows for John Martyn, Iron and Wine, Seth Lakeman, Davy Graham, Richard Hawley, Cara Dillon, James Yorkston, Martin Carthy, Jools Holland, Tinariwen, Martin Simpson, Gil Scott-Heron and Chris Thile and is a regular on the festival circuit.
John plays the steel-string acoustic guitar, sometimes with a slide, sometimes on his lap, sometimes de-tuning the thing mid-song. He was named Young Acoustic Guitarist Of The Year in 2003 and hasn’t stopped to look back, unless it’s to pick up a banjo.
Don’t miss this chance to catch John in the very special surroundings of St. Phillips Church. He is a dazzling and inventive guitarist with a jaw-dropping, unconventional percussive guitar style, and possessor of an unforgettable honeyed gravel growl of a voice that belies his age and background.
“The playing style he adopts may cause your jaw to hit the floor… he has all the flair for the gathering storm that made Jeff Buckley so attractive… one hesitates to mention Nick Drake but well, one already has done” – Word
“John Smith continually swoons audiences with his own strain of nu-folk. It is only a matter of time before he is enormous” – NME