John Craigie
A road-tested American folk troubadour with a sharp wit and strong D.I.Y. work ethic, singer/songwriter John Craigie emerged at the tail end of the 2000s with a sound that prompted comparisons to John Prine, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and comedian Mitch Hedberg. Mining personal stories from his countless tours, the Los Angeles native developed an engaging stage presence blending humorous storytelling with a rustic and soulful Americana songwriting approach. His prodigious output, all released on his own Zabriskie Point imprint, includes studio albums like 2009's Montana Tale and 2017's guest heavy No Rain, No Rose which featured artists like the Shook Twins and Gregory Alan Isakov. Craigie's catalog also includes a pair of covers albums, two live releases, and the dreamy 2022 set, Mermaid Salt.
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Craigie cut his teeth around Northern California fronting the psychedelic band Pond Rock. In the mid-2000s, he began developing a solo approach more indebted to classic American folk music, albeit with a contemporary sense of humor. After a few scattered releases, he found his footing with 2009's Montana Tale, which is generally considered to be his debut album. His warm vocals and dusty Americana-inspired sound that blended heartfelt personal songwriting with offbeat humor earned him a strong D.I.Y. fan base, which he tended to by near-constant touring. Over the next half-decade, Craigie released three more studio albums -- October is the Kindest Month (2011), The Apocalypse Is Over (2013), and Working on My Farewell (2015) -- and two albums of covers, the second of which, 2012's Paper Airplane, was devoted entirely to Led Zeppelin songs. Known for his passionate and funny stage shows, he made his first concert album, 2016's Capricorn in Retrograde…Just Kidding…Live in Portland, which was championed by veteran singer/songwriter Jack Johnson. Johnson brought Craigie along to open part of his subsequent tour, and the two often performed together on-stage, later releasing a live duo version of Craigie's song "I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man." Craigie's 2017 album, No Rain, No Rose, was recorded in his living room in Portland, Oregon with a host of local players and featured guests like Colorado singer/songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov. 2018's Scarecrow was intended to be a vinyl-only release, but it's popularity among fans eventually prompted Craigie to offer it digitally.
For 2020's Asterisk the Universe, he headed to rustic Bodega, California to record with eclectic Bay Area band Rainbow Girls. Mermaid Salt, Craigie's eighth original studio album, appeared in early 2022.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo
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No Rain, No Rose (Vinyl)
Folk - Released by Zabriskie Point Records on 27/01/2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mermaid Salt
Folk - Released by Zabriskie Point Records on 15/04/2022
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