John Allen (musician)

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File: John Allen at the 2015 Wilwarin Festival
John Allen in Nochtspeicher Hamburg, 2016
John Allen in Nochtspeicher Hamburg, 2016

John Allen (born April 4, 1984 in Limburg an der Lahn ) is a German singer , songwriter , pianist and guitarist .

Life

John Allen was born in 1984 and lives in Hamburg . He studied English literature and history at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz .

In the spring of 2013, John Allen recorded his first studio album, Sounds of Soul and Sin , in Hamburg's StarTunes Studios . In May, Allen was discovered by Frank Turner playing on the street for waiting guests before one of his concerts. Turner then decided to engage Allen as support for his fall tour. On this tour, the hitherto unknown Allen managed to get the audience on his side.

After a tour with Southerly and Ghost of a Chance in March, Allen went to Elevate Studios in Hamburg in late April to record his second studio album with Sophomore . Frank Turner (backing vocals on Home ) and Lucero keyboarder Rick Steff (accordion on Night Falls Over Reno ) played as prominent guests . The album was released on CD and vinyl on August 29, 2014 on the Bremen label Gunner Records . Musically, Allen oriented himself towards a mixture of punk , country and alternative at Sophomore . Sophomore received positive reviews in the September issue of German Rolling Stone .

In May, Allen toured with Lucero and Emily Barker, supporting Milow . In the summer followed a tour with Joe Ginsberg, as well as an appearance at the Rolling Stone Weekender .

In the spring of 2015 John Allen appeared on his "Howling at the Moon" tour for the first time together with his band in 6 German cities. He also played numerous solo concerts. In autumn 2015, Orphan Keys released an EP on which Allen can only be heard on the piano. In addition to three original compositions, Orphan Keys also features cover versions of Simon & Garfunkel's America and Tom Waits' Ruby's Arms.

Influences

John Allen names the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen , as well as the music of Tom Waits , The Gaslight Anthem , Chuck Ragan , Frank Turner , David Bowie , Nick Cave and Counting Crows as main influences .

Instruments

John Allen typically plays a Gibson J-45 and a J-200 Custom Shop through a Fishman Aura pedal.

Discography

  • 2013: Sounds of Soul and Sin - (CD) BTM Music
  • 2014: Sophomore - (CD / LP) Gunner Records
  • 2015: Orphan Keys (EP) - (CD / LP) Gunner Records
  • 2016: Ghosts - (CD / LP) Gunner Records
  • 2019: Friends & other Strangers - (CD / LP) Gunner Records

Web links

Commons : John Allen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sounds of Soul and Sin ( Memento from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ http://sabinewirsching.com/2013/10/30/interview-mit-john-allen/
  3. ↑ http://www.kreiszeitung.de/kultur/john-allen-veroeffnahm-heute-sein-neues-album-sophomore-gunner-records-3815645.html
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ http://www.rollingstone-weekender.de/index.php
personal data
SURNAME Allen, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH April 4th 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Limburg on the Lahn