John Colbert
Waltons New School of Music Faculty
John has been a professional musician for over two decades and has had the pleasure of performing and recording with some of the very best musicians in the Irish music industry, including Jack L, Damien Dempsey, Paddy Casey and Jerry Fish. He has toured all over the world and extensively in Ireland the UK. In addition to producing his own material, he has also had the pleasure working with some of the world’s finest producers – including Michael Beinhorn (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Ozzy Osbourne), Mike Hedges (The Cure, Travis, Manic Street Preachers), Ger McDonall (U2, Ah-Ha, Kasabian) and Gavin Glass (Lisa Hannigan, David Keenan, Paul Brady) – studying their techniques and incorporating them into his own production style. With his own band, Black Bank Folk, John has recorded two critically acclaimed albums – Rising (2016) and Last Star Fall (2019) – and acted as guitarist, bassist, singer, songwriter and producer. Fusing rock with Irish traditional music, Black Bank Folk has been praised by the Irish Times (‘stories of love, faith, loss and vision told with fluency and grace’), Hot Press (‘makes the marriage of rock and folk seem the most natural pairing in the world – sheer class’) and many others. ‘Music is one of the most precious gifts you can give at any stage of life. It will always give back to you and can help you through some of life’s most difficult moments. To see the joy in students’ faces when they master a chord or can sing a song makes all the hours of practice worthwhile. And to help light that spark of creativity is an absolute privilege.’
a comprehensive music centre in the heart of Dublin.