John Southworth

Who is John Southworth?

John Southworth is an English-Canadian singer-songwriter. His singular style encompasses a diverse range of popular song genres, from AM oldies-radio to traditional folk balladry, 80’s pop to cabaret. New York Press wrote that his "capacity for a wide range of antiquated styles seems to have emerged out of a time vacuum”. Rich Terfry of CBC Radio 2 said, “John is to music what Guy Maddin is to film." His orchestral debut record Mars Pennsylvania was released on Bar None Records in 1998. He has since released a number of genre-defying albums on small Canadian labels, each stylistically varied from the other, including Sedona Arizona, Banff Springs Transylvania Yosemite and The Pillowmaker. The former was performed with his longtime band The South Seas, featuring members from Toronto's avant-jazz-improv community. The South Seas also backed John on the elegiac Human Cry. In 2011 John released SPIRITUAL WAR Cassette Tape, recorded in part on a SONY-CASSETTE CORDER Model TCM-939 and the following year he debuted the surreal cabaret song cylce Easterween featuring arrangements by Toronto arranger Andrew Downing at the Lower Ossington Theatre in Toronto.