John Butler is set to premiere an exclusive performance of his latest album, Running River, in its entirety for lucky fans in Nowra.
The folk musician and ARIA award winner announced that this special one-off will take place at the HERE In Nowra Festival, an event celebrating Vedic wisdom and collective consciousness.
In its maiden year, HERE In Nowra will host a series of wisdom talks, Vedic meditation courses, and social events to advocate for increased spirituality in the community.
While it is unknown what other musical acts will be present as of yet, John Butler, who is a fan of meditation himself, will settle right into the atmosphere. Along with a full run-through of his latest album, Butler will participate in an intimate Q&A session, as well as a performance of his well-known instrumental piece, Ocean.
Butler, who originally performed under his eponymous trio band, recently switched to a solo career with the release of his latest album, Running River, in May 2024.
Butler spoke to The Music for an exclusive interview about his first solo album in over a decade and how the ambient collection of songs was an antidote for one of Butler’s lowest points.
“It was a pretty intense situation,” Butler says of the ordeal. “I was losing sense of what I was doing and where I was headed.”
Running River marks Butler’s first release since his 2018 album HOME. A departure from his signature blues & folk sound, Running River offers an ambient journey of meditative instrumentals. Around the time of the album’s conception, Butler was learning how to cope with grief after the loss of his father and wanted to strip back the narrative to one of healing.
“I had to get rid of all the work I’d done [for the follow-up to HOME] and start again – to build things back up very gently and simply – to heal. And playing these ten-minute songs that were very repetitive and hypnotic, and very slow and mellow, that really lent itself to my healing journey.”
HERE in Nowra festival will take place at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre on Thursday, October 24th. Tickets are available from Thursday, August 15th, at shoalhavenentertainment.com.au.