The John Butler Trio (Melbourne, Australia) is led by guitarist/songwriter/vocalist John Butler, who was born in the U.S. and moved with his family to Australia when he was 10. JBT is already very successful in Australia, having sold over 70,000 CDs (this equals platinum in Australia). Butler has a warm, raspy voice and writes intelligent songs with environmental and political concerns that are laced with searing slide guitar work. The trio draws on blues and folk as well as incorporating more eclectic Indian and other ethnic flavors. Butler’s guitar work has a distinctive feel with a sense of openness. It’s more what he doesn’t play that makes it interesting, but he does like to stretch things out. For the U.S. market, the band has combined its mini-album JBT and its latest disc Three, which provide a good overall picture of what is probably the best band to come out of Australia in many a year. Watch for them opening for the likes of Gov’t Mule, the Dave Matthews Band and others. Highly recommended.