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The album is now released and can be purchased from www.humblesoul.net , Picadilly Records , Rough Trade , i-tunes and myself at gigs, along with other places.
I play guitar and have been doing most of my life. Sometimes i sing, but only more recently. I also like to plug my guitar into big loud amplifiers and make as much noise as i can. My Dad got me into slide blues when i was young and K.Sridhar opened my ears to Indian Classical music when i was about 8.
For the last few years i aimlessly wandered far flung parts of this great globe, playing music and getting into trouble.
I recorded most of this album in a shed with my friends in the beautiful countryside surrounding my delightful hometown of Wigan. Currently, i am working on my next batch.
"One of the most original, enlightening and entertaining albums you’ll hear all year."
BBC MANCHESTER-Chris Long
"Truly Exquisite"
THE GUARDIAN-Laura Barton
"There's something paradoxical about 'Joys Of Spring'. Like a window onto someone's private world it has an unerring intimacy and yet there's a strong undercurrent of bold audacity. The result is that we can only expect the unexpected and that's a magical thing."
SPIRAL EARTH-David Kushar
"A one man explosion of blues, Indian ragas and English baroque folk"
IN THE CITY
"New Age guitar Superstar."
OPUS
"This extraordinary debut album arrived unannounced in our offices one morning.
Playing a bewildering array of instruments, John Fairhurst has produced an instrumental record of immense power and creativity that blends eastern melodies with brilliant guitar dexterity.
He exudes a zest for life and being that is nothing short of intoxicating. We predict a very bright future for John Fairhurst."
ELECTRIC GHOST/YELLOW MOON"Virtuosity is all too often substituted for catchiness in popular music. And to see John Fairhurst’s debut reach its deserved summit would turn the above theory on its head.
It’s hard to put your finger on a guitar-based genre whose stone has remained unturned by John.
John’s listening experiences and hard work have led to music that shimmers with a delicate aural caress"
STUDENT DIRECT-Ian Pennington
Spirits were flowing, the sofa was full, and gravelly guitarist JOHN FAIRHURST was unleashing merry hell in the middle of the living room
His performance jangled into life with a Delta-bluesy flavour before surging into an epic Indian classical melody, dropping jaws from kitchen to corridor with his speed and style.
Every now and then, he'd pause to re-tune his bruised instrument, like a frustrated dad nefariously stroking the cat before suddenly drop-kicking it off the sofa.He savages his guitar like a hyena unwrapping a Christmas present.
John is a blur of fluttering fingers, full of raw, sandpapery authenticity, with a foot tap you can hear under your knees from several rows back, never mind in a room so cosy that you can get paper cuts from his eyelashes.WHISPERINANDHOLLERIN.COM-John Hill
Entirely instrumental, this beautifully played album takes you on a journey around the world to the point where your senses can make you believe you are there. John is a master of a huge number instruments,but it’s the brilliant playing of so many types of guitar that really grabs you.
Even if instrumental music isn’t your thing you should own this album. John Fairhurst deserves to go far and if people are willing to give this type of music a go then there is no denying that they’ll be drawn in by it. Buy it now!
IS THIS MUSIC.COM-Gordon Neil