John Blaylock is a fresh contender in a very modern iteration of a long, strong line of northern songwriters, from Noel Gallagher to Tim Burgess via Mick Head, Badly Drawn Boy and Paul Heaton. Previewed today by the new single ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’, his debut album ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’ is set to be released on May 8th. It’s a debut but one that follows John’s myriad adventures in music, from almost breaking big with his first band to writing a song as part of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations and collaborating with artists in Los Angeles, Sweden and Japan. Listen HERE.
John excels as a storytelling songwriter, and that’s something he proves with the autobiographical ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’. Set to a punchy indie/hip-hop beat, John looks at the friendships that in his youth would be forever – but they have all drifted apart from reasons ranging from parenthood to drug addiction to moving abroad. It’s a universal truth that so many men experience as the years pass. Yet as the song observes, it’s not necessarily the end. Whether separated by time, distance or circumstance those friendships can click effortlessly back into place.
The single features on ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’, a record that consists of ten songs of melody and poetry, moonshine and roses, love, lust and reflection. It’s an album distilled from his Manchester upbringing and from his international travels with five of the songs written in his home city and five crafted in far-flung destinations. The album is available to pre-order HERE.
John’s first indie band made substantial headway, including Radio 1 airplay and the Nelson Mandela song (at the request of Desmond Tutu!) before becoming undone by the kind of industry machinations that have sunk so many other bands. Undeterred by the experience, he ended up writing in LA with Pam Sheyne (Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera), Roxanne Seeman (The Jacksons, Phil Collins, Bette Midler) and Marcella Detroit (Shakespears Sister) before working with girl bands in Sweden and new talent in Japan, and building a studio in Ecuador
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