He called me the other morning from his sleepy river town. “The North Shore will rise again!” he says. He’s not peddling snake oil, there’s conviction in his voice. “the songs are done, you’ve got to hear them”. 5 songs, recorded to tape over 5 days spent at “the Chamber”.

First impressions: these are not songs of fiction, the blues are real. The isolation a man feels in this landscape, you can hear it in his voice, a tone steeped in tradition, influenced by a life lived in the shadow of a mountain. “Somebody pull me out”, “I ain’t got much to show for love”, “I should have been a little more willing, to let go of the past I was living”, “Baby please don’t go!”, words form emotion, scraping fuzzed out guitars and guttural howls. Listening to the songs, you’re right there with him.

“the Chamber was my home for those 5 days. The songs were written, arranged, and recorded in that studio” he tells me. A record, in the truest sense, of those days spent with musicians, influences, mentors, friends. The songs work, they make you feel. Foot tapping, head bobbing. Album’s done. Do it again.


Betrayal Blues

John Richard Interview on Blind Lemon Blues Radio St. Johns Newfoundland

All The Proof I Need

Black Church

The first single from John Richard's 2016 album Lost in Dublin.

Lost in Dublin

I Wish You'd Come With Me

I Fall Apart

Some Things Never Get Paid

Volumes of Beautiful Words

I Can't Help It

Blues/Soul singer songwriter from East Coast Canada.