John Butler by John Butler Trio

John Butler, the first full-length album from the John Butler Trio, came out on 27 December 1998 with no label behind it, the calling card of a brand-new roots outfit from Fremantle. Butler wrote, arranged and produced the lot himself, and the first version of the trio, with Jason McGann on drums and Gavin Shoesmith on double bass and electric bass, cut it that same December at Studio Couch in Fremantle before launching it with a show at Mojos Bar in North Fremantle.

It's a lean, homespun record: Butler's guitar and voice front and center, folk at the roots but with a groove that owes as much to the bar room as the campfire, and a rhythm section that keeps things loose and warm. The one borrowed piece is the chorus of "Colours", whose words come from Sly and the Family Stone. George Nikoloudis and Shaun O'Callaghan engineered and mixed the sessions.

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