Share a night of tales and songs with one of Australia’s most iconic singer songwriters

John Butler returns to his roots to perform a series of solo concerts throughout the country in March and April. Aptly titled “Tin Shed Tales”, the tour takes in capital cities and a host of regional areas; these shows will be a rare opportunity to hear the music of this iconic artist in a raw and intimate setting.

John will be bringing his Tin Shed along for the ride, decked out with a collection of personal art pieces, old skool skateboards and vintage guitars, these items are laid out in his shed at home where he draws inspiration for his art and songwriting.

The Tin Shed Tales tour will feature special guests Felicity Groom and Mama Kin, who will open and participate in the shows (see list of shows below).

In December last year John decided to put on a surprise concert for his fans in Perth. The unplugged acoustic show was announced a day before the performance and with only 300 seats available it sold out in under seven minutes. He shared many anecdotes with the audience and performed songs from his vast catalogue spanning across all five albums.
Thus the “Tin Shed Tales” concept came to life.

Check out ‘Revolution’ taken from the “Tin Shed Tales” special Christmas performance at the Subiaco Arts Centre – WA
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dACq7kTYy4s[/media]

Regarding the forthcoming tour John Butler said today,

“I’m really excited about this tour. There is something special about stripping all the bells and whistles off and really feeling the power of less is more.”

John will unveil some brand new songs alongside tracks from his extensive catalogue on the “Tin Shed Tales” tour. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch the most intimate performance this versatile artist has ever undertaken. It will be a unique experience for any music lover.

Tickets go on sale Monday February 6^th

* Along with their Bluesfest performance, the John Butler Trio will be performing a couple of key shows within John’s solo tour for their fans in Darwin and Cairns – these dates are included below as noted.

JOHN BUTLER – TIN SHED TALES tour dates
With special guests Felicity Groom and Mama Kin
*John Butler Trio shows – No Tin Shed!

Sat 10 March & Sun 11 March – Port Fairy Folk Festival – John Butler solo – (No Tin Shed!) www.portfairyfolkfestival.com

Sat 17 March – Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Mon 19 March – Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: venue Box Office Tel: 08 9088 6900, www.goldfieldsartscentre.com.au

Wed 21 March – Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: venue Ormsby Terrace, Mandurah Tel: 08 9550 3900 http://www.manpac.com.au/shows.php

Thurs 22 March – Clancy’s Fish Pub (outdoors), Dunsborough WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: www.heatseeker.com.au & 78 Records, Mills Records, Planet, Fremantle Arts Centre Reception, Blue 62 Busselton, Prince of Wales Bunbury, Star Surf (Perth, Hillarys and Mandurah).

Fri 23 March – Albany Entertainment Centre, Albany WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: in person at the AEC Box Office or Tel: 08) 9844 5005 www.albanyentertainment.com.au

Sun 25 March – Queens Park Theatre, Geraldton WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: Box Office and venue office Tel: 08) 9956 6662 www.queensparktheatre.com.au

Mon 26 March – Carnarvon Civic Centre, Carnarvon WA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Thurs 29 March – Astor Theatre, Perth, WA supported by Felicity Groom
NEW Show: Tickets from: bocs www.bocsticketing.com.au – Fully Seated – OVER 18 – Unders must be accompanied by an adult. 

Fri 30 March – Sunset Pictures, Broome, WA supported by Mama Kin
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Sat 31 March – Sunset Pictures, Broome, WA supported by Mama Kin
Second & Final Show: Tickets from: venue (8 Carnarvon Street, Broome Tel: 08) 9192 1077 www.heatseeker.com.au 78 Records, Mills Records, Planet, Fremantle Arts Centre Reception, Blue 62 Busselton, Prince of Wales Bunbury, Star Surf (Perth, Hillarys and Mandurah).

Thurs 5 April – Darwin Ski Club, Darwin NT (*JOHN BUTLER TRIO) supported by Mama Kin
Tickets from: venue Tel: 089816630 for enquiries & http://www.oztix.com.au/

Sat 7 April – Kuranda Amphitheatre, Kuranda QLD (*JOHN BUTLER TRIO) supported by In The Wild Wood and TBC
Tickets from: Ticketlink, Cnr Sheridan & Florence Sts, Cairns Qld 4870, Tel: 1300 855 835 email:  info@ticketlink.com.au web: www.ticketlink.com.au

Sun 8 April – Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW (*JOHN BUTLER TRIO) www.bluesfest.com.au

Wed 11 April – Tamworth Town Hall, Tamworth NSW supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: Tourism Tamworth on Tel: 02) 6767 5300; Over the counter at Tamworth Visitor Information Centre (corner Peel and Murray Streets) or Online atwww.visittamworth.com

Thurs 12 April – Civic Theatre, Newcastle NSW supported by Mama Kin
Tickets from venue: Civic Theatre, 375 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300, Tel: 02 49291977 or Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au

Fri 13 April – Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra ACT supported by Mama Kin
Tickets from: venue Box Office, The Canberra Theatre Centre foyer in Civic Square, London Circuit, Tel: 02) 6275 2700 or onlinehttp://www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Sun 15 April – Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: venue Box Office – MajesTix – Tel: 03 5333 5888, or www.hermaj.com

Tues 17 April – East Bank, Shepparton VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: Riverlinks Box Office Tel: 03) 5832 9511 or www.riverlinksvenues.com.au

Wed 18 April – The Capitol Theatre, Bendigo VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from venue: Tel: 03 5434 6100 or www.thecapital.com.au

Thurs 19 April – Federation Hall, Hobart, TAS supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from venue and via http://www.tso.com.au/

Fri 20 April – Princess Theatre, Launceston, TAS supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets from: venue box office Tel: 03 6323 3666 or www.theatrenorth.com.au   

Sun 22 April – Meeniyan Hall, Meeniyan VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Tues 24 April – Hifi Bar, Melbourne VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Wed 25 April – Hifi Bar, Melbourne VIC supported by Felicity Groom
Second & Final Show: Tickets from: www.thehifi.com.au, Tel 1300-THEHIFI (843 443), Polyester Records – CBD & Fitzroy, Sight n Sound – Northcote & Boronia.

Fri 27April – Metro, Sydney NSW supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Sat 28April – Metro, Sydney NSW supported by Felicity Groom
Second & Final Show:  http://premier.ticke…au/default.aspx or http://www.metrothea…au/events/metro

Sun 29 April – Gov Hindmarsh SA supported by Felicity Groom
Tickets: SOLD OUT

Mon 30 April – Gov Hindmarsh SA supported by Felicity Groom
Second & Final Show: Tickets from: venue www.thegov.com.au Tel: 08) 8340 0744, Moshtix - www.moshtix.com.au
1300 GET TIX (1300 438 849), Venue*Tix - www.venuetix.com.au, Tel: 08) 8225 8888

Original Broadcast Date: Sunday November 1 2009 at 7.30pm – REPLAY FEB 7th 2012

Rock star and activist John Butler is searching for his heritage hoping to find poets, musicians and revolutionaries. In “Who Do You Think You Are?” he traces the Butler name back through generations of hardship to a matriarch who sang for her survival. Then he follows his Bulgarian ancestry to the mountain town of Koprivshtitsa and to an ancestor caught up in a violent revolt, central to the birth of a nation.

“Melody, Subtlety, Authenticity. Sophistication… Butler at his brand new best, blending his influences into a sound that is all his own… [April Uprising is] a hip shaking rollicking good-time album” – Rolling Stone

In 1998, singer-songwriter John Butler was busking on the streets of Fremantle, West Australia. Now together with the rest of his trio, he has become the most successful independent artist in Australia and an international favourite at iconic festivals such as Fuji Rock, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Big Day Out, and Coachella where Bruce Fessier of USA Today said, "John Butler revealed himself to be arguably the finest guitarist at Coachella Festival".

2003’s Sunrise Over Sea was the first independently released album to reach number one in Australia, and like the band’s fourth album Grand National, went on to enjoy multi-platinum success. In 2010 John Butler released the trio’s fifth studio album April Uprising, which became the band’s third consecutive album to debut at number one on the national Australian ARIA album charts.

Well embraced by fans and media alike, April Uprising has received unsurpassed reviews all around the world. The first single One Way Road received a massive amount of airplay in Australia and took the number one spot on the national airplay chart.

Brace yourself as the John Butler Trio brings their rousing live show to Mosaic Music Festival for an evening of eclectic roots music and feel-good vibes.

(1hr 30 mins, no intermission)

$40*, $60**, $80


Limited concessions for students, NSF and senior citizens: $25*, $40**

Best Blues & Roots Album
Backsliders – Starvation Box (Fuse)
Blue King Brown – Worldwize Part 1 – North And South (Lion House Records/MGM Distribution)
John Butler Trio – Live At Red Rocks (Jarrah Records/MGM Distribution)
The Audreys – Sometimes The Stars (ABC Music)
The Waifs – Temptation (Jarrah Records/MGM Distribution)

Best Independent Release
Art Vs Science – The Experiment (Green/MGM Distribution)
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu – Rrakala (Skinnyfish Music/MGM Distribution)
John Butler Trio – Live At Red Rocks (Jarrah Records/MGM Distribution)
Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses – Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses (Dark Horses Records/Inertia)
The Jezabels – Dark Storm (MGM Distribution)

For five years, More FM has brought the best in local music to some of the country’s finest locations.  Hitting the road in February 2012 with a fresh look and name, the More FM Summer Vineyard Tour will travel to the beautiful surrounds of New Zealand vineyards with the addition of hot international acts headlining the tour’s stellar line-up.

This year’s tour will see legendary Australian roots act and NZ favourites John Butler Trio co-headline the show alongside so-hot-right-now funky American soul singer Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme, following Aloe’s sell-out NZ shows earlier this year and NZ top 40 chart success.  Kiwi pop-sweetheart Annabel Fay also joins the line-up off the back of a stint in the US.  They will play venues over eight February dates in the Hawkes Bay, New Plymouth, Martinborough, Hamilton, Nelson, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland.

Aussie greats John Butler Trio return to Kiwi shores off the back of releasing a limited edition box set album ‘Live At Red Rocks’.  With the release of their 5^th studio album and a whirlwind 12 month tour last year, John Butler Trio have garnered incredible respect and rave reviews from fans and media around the world, making them absolutely one of Australia’s biggest music exports and a big hit with New Zealand audiences.

Aloe Blacc’s 2010 worldwide hits, ‘I Need A Dollar’ (commissioned as the theme tune for HBO series How To Make It In America) and ‘Loving You Is Killing Me‘ are merely the tip of a very large iceberg, with Aloe fast becoming the spearhead of modern, 21^st century soul.  The smooth soul singer has taken over the charts both here and overseas, with television appearances on big shows such as The Graham Norton Show and Later With Jools Holland.  His recent sell-out New Zealand shows also received rave reviews: "Blacc oozes charisma and has a remarkable stage presence" (stuff.co.nz) and “Aloe hit notes like the godson of soul” (Groove Guide). Aloe with his band The Grand Scheme is a guaranteed crowd pleaser on the More FM Summer Vineyard Tour for 2012.

Bringing a local flavour to the show, local songstress Annabel Fay rounds off the line-up with her catchy pop tracks and soul infused style. Performing hits off her latest album, such as top 20 airplay tracks ‘Show Me The Right Way’, ‘River’ and new single ‘Already Home’, Annabel is all set to wow the crowds at this renowned event. 

Without a doubt the shows will deliver an event to remember, bringing together exciting entertainment, fine wine and food with good company, for an amazing afternoon-turn-evening out.  Grab your family and friends because the More FM Summer Vineyard Tour is reinvigorated, refreshed and better than ever before.  Head along to one of the following venues near you:

MORE FM SUMMER VINEYARD TOUR 2012

John Butler Trio, Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme

Annabel Fay

Friday 3rd February, Sileni Estates – Hawkes Bay

Saturday 4^th February, Brooklands Lawn - New Plymouth

Sunday 5th February, Daisy Bank Farm – Martinborough

Monday 6^th February, Claudelands Green – Hamilton

Wednesday 8^th February, Trafalgar Park – Nelson

Thursday 9^th February, Peregrine Winery – Queenstown

Friday 10th February, Pegasus Town – Christchurch

Saturday 11th February, Turanga Creek – Auckland

EXCLUSIVE VISA PRE-SALE tickets on sale 9am, Monday 10 October from www.ticketek.co.nz

Ph 0800 TICKETEK (0800 842 538)

Early Bird GA tickets on sale from 9am, Wednesday 12 October

from:  www.ticketek.co.nz and www.summervineyardtour.co.nz

  www.summervineyardtour.co.nz

I write as someone who is not a fundamentalist, environmental, economic, political or otherwise. I'm not anti-development. If anything, I am a common "sense-ist".

If a government or corporation can develop a given region or resource in an appropriate way, by all means go for it. If not? Sorry but no can do.

The Browse Basin gas fields off the coast of Broome can be exploited to the economic benefit of the country and its citizens without destroying one of the most pristine places on this planet, by piping down to existing facilities in the Pilbara or processing it off shore.

For a 30-year economic benefit, would we mine Uluru? Would we drill on the Great Barrier Reef? Would we allow any of our iconic locations — say Bondi Beach or Sydney Harbour — to be taken by force by a government intent on mining it? No. None of us would.

Yet this is exactly what could happen in the Kimberley with the proposed gas refinery at James Price Point just north of Broome. We are at risk of losing one of our most unspoiled and iconic places.

Western Australia premier Colin Barnett has gone on record saying "the Pilbara has supported WA for the last 50 years and the Kimberley will support us the next 50 years". It's clear that his plans for James Price Point are just the thin end of the wedge for his vision of an industrialised Kimberley.

Environmentally it's madness to clear up to 25 square kilometres of native vegetation, including tracts of rainforest that are home to already endangered species, on an unspoiled coastline that is refuge for migrating whales and endangered sea turtles.  It's madness to dredge 50 square kilometres of sea bed to build an export port that would create a marine ''dead zone'' when there are viable alternative sites in parts of the WA coast that are already industrialised. Quite apart from air pollution and enormous greenhouse emissions – 20 per cent of WA’s total emissions would come from this project alone, it will also be extremely thirsty with more than 30 billion litres of wastewaterpumped each year into the untouched waters north of Broome.

Economically, it's true that the Woodside gas refinery might provide up to 8000 jobs during construction but once finished the plant will need only about 300 full-time employees to operate.  Destroying one of the most beautiful corners of the world to provide 300 jobs, while compromising other local industries, including tourism and pearling, makes no economic sense at all considering there are alternatives. Tourism is a huge part of the Kimberley’s economy, yet to reach its full potential.  As a point of comparison the Great Barrier Reef is worth $2 billion in tourism per year, while the proponents of this plant are boasting the groundbreaking deal with the indigenous people of the area that will pay them $1 billion over 30 years.

On a social impact front, when Premier Barnett threatened ''compulsory acquisition'' of land on which to build the proposed gas refinery, he invalidated the negotiation process and virtually put a ''gun to the head'' of every traditional owner in the region, rekindling an empirical attitude harking back more than 200 years. 

This proposal has been sugar-coated as being the saviour to the indigenous people of the region: providing them with a ''last chance'' economic opportunity to secure better housing, health and schooling.  These are rights that every Australian is entitled to and they should never be held to ransom in return for a citizen’s land and culture.

This proposal has divided the indigenous and wider Broome community, turning families against each other in the name of so-called "opportunity". Some traditional owners have had their applications for native title claims cancelled as a result of their opposition to the proposal. My good friend, Senior Law Boss and custodian for James Price Point, Joseph Roe, who is responsible for a heritage cultural trail that runs through the proposed refinery site, is one of them.

But out of this division, a growing sense of unity and resolution is developing as the Broome community stand together and fight to preserve their unique land and culture.  Local campaigners are determined to ensure that Broome does not become another fly-in, fly-out mining town with the raft of social problems that would inevitably bring.  They're determined to protect what is special and unique about Broome and the Kimberley.

This is not a done deal: Woodside's joint venture partners Shell, BP and Chevron are crucial to this deal going through and are still unsure about their preferred site for the project. They haven't given this project final investment approval, nor have the state or federal governments given final environmental approvals.

Make no mistake: this is a national issue. This is yours, mine and our business. Don't let this be another case of us not knowing what we've got 'til it's gone. It's time to stand up and be counted.

John Butler and Mama Kin on the Hudson River, singing 'Losing You' and revelling in a twilight New York moment.

If the campaign to protect the Kimberley moves you even slightly, do your bit to support the amazing folks on the front line by purchasing the new version of this old fave via iTunes. 

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW FROM iTUNES:
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/losing-you-feat.-mama-kin/id449080449

WATCH THE REPLAY NOW!

On July 28th 2011, the John Butler Trio took time out from their North American tour to visit the Livestream Studios for a special, intimiate performance and fan Q&A. The event was streamed live across the net and is now available for reply via the video above.