ANYTHING but plain John Smith, “the future of folk music”, will play Pocklington Arts Centre on May 21, fresh from a string of Australian dates.
Raised by the Devon seaside, guitarist, singer and songwriter Smith cut his folk teeth in the bars and clubs of Liverpool and has since released six albums, attracted 23 million Spotify streams and played to audiences in living rooms, festival tents and concert halls the world over.
Steeped in the lineage of British folk, taking his cue from Richard Thompson and John Martyn in particular, Smith has evolved an innovative transatlantic blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques to frame his songs of love, loss and the journeys we make.
On stage, Smith has opened for Iron and Wine, Tinariwen and Ben Howard and guested with Jackson Browne, Martin Carthy, Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker, Jerry Douglas, Glen Hansard and Rodney Crowell.
In his occasional role as sideman, he has played guitar for David Gray, Lisa Hannigan, Lianne La Havas, Joe Henry and Joan Baez.
Welcoming Smith to Pocklington Arts Centre, director Janet Farmer says: “With his honey-on-gravel voice and mesmerising blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques, John is without doubt the perfect addition to our live music programme for 2020.
“He has quickly amassed a huge following
of loyal fans and has opened for folk greats John Martyn, Davy Graham and John
Renbourn, who described him as ‘the future of folk music’, and now we have the
privilege of welcoming him to our stage.”
Smith has made six albums across 12 years: The Fox And The Monk in 2006; Map Or Direction in 2009; Eavesdropping in 2011; Great Lakes in 2013; Headlong in 2017 and Hummingbird in 2018. Last year came two October singles, Burden Of The Road and Killing The Blues.
Tickets for his 8pm Pocklington gig are on sale at £15 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.