John Harrold Craigie III (born June 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and storyteller. Hailed as a "Modern-Day Troubadour" in the style of

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

, Craigie's comedic storytelling style has been compared to

Mitch Hedberg Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 23, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non s ...

, while his music and commitment to living on the road has drawn comparisons to Guthrie,

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer, songwriter and story teller. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adno ...

and

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

. He has performed with or opened for Jack Johnson,

Gregory Alan Isakov Gregory Alan Isakov (born October 19, 1979) is a South African-born American singer and songwriter currently based in Boulder, Colorado. Isakov and his family immigrated to the United States in 1986 and he was raised in Philadelphia. Isakov's m ...

Todd Snider Todd Daniel Snider (born October 11, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk. Early career Snider was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in nearby Beaverton, wher ...

Paul Thorn Paul Thorn is an American Southern rock, country, Americana, and blues singer-songwriter, whose style is a mix of blues, country, and rock. Biography Thorn was raised in Tupelo, Mississippi. Before his professional music career began, he was ...

James McMurtry James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American rock and folk rock/ americana singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor ('' Daisy Miller'', '' Lonesome Dove'', and narrator of ''Ghost Town: 24 Hour ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

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, Nicki Bluhm,

Aoife O'Donovan Aoife Maria O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, as well as one-third of the supergroup folk trio I'm with Her ...

ALO Alo or ALO may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Alo'' (film), a 2003 Bengali drama * Alo Creevey, a fictional character in TV series ''Skins'' ** "Alo" (''Skins series 5'') ** "Alo" (''Skins series 6'') * Animal Liberation Orchestra ...

, Shook Twins, Rainbow Girls,

Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob ...

The Infamous Stringdusters The Infamous Stringdusters are a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band. The band first emerged in 2006 with the limited release of a five-song extended play CD ''The Infamous Stringdusters,'' followed in 2007 by their first album ''Fork in the Roa ...

and

Trampled by Turtles Trampled by Turtles is an American bluegrass music, bluegrass-influenced Folk music, folk band from Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota. They have released ten full albums, three of which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard (magazine), Billboa ...

Early life

John Craigie was born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is the grandson of U.S. Air Force general

Laurence Craigie Laurence Carbee Craigie (January 26, 1902 – February 27, 1994), was an American aviator and United States Air Force general. He became the first U.S. military jet pilot in 1942 when he piloted the Bell XP-59. With Orval R. Cook he is also kno ...

. He attended college at

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay ...

in Northern California, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics. In Santa Cruz he began performing live music in local venues and house parties, first as lead singer and guitarist in a psychedelic rock band, "Pond Rock", then solo as a folk singer-songwriter and storyteller. He self-released several albums of songs in this period before his first major studio album, 2009's '' Montana Tale''.

Music career

Craigie is best known for his live performances which blend folk songwriting with comedic storytelling. His 2016 live album, ''Capricorn In Retrograde… Just Kidding… Live in Portland'', wound up on Jack Johnson's car stereo on a drive up the California coast, prompting Johnson to ask Craigie to open for him on 11 dates of his 2017 national Summer tour. Throughout the tour, Johnson brought Craigie on stage during his set to co-perform Craigie's song, "I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man"; the pair released a single of the song, recorded live at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. Craigie has released nine studio albums, two live albums, two cover albums, and one live cover album. His album '' No Rain, No Rose'', released in 2017, was recorded in his Portland-home living room, and features

and Shook Twins. 2020's ''Asterisk The Universe'' features Rainbow Girls and was recorded with friends in a Northern California cabin.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Montana Tale'' ( Zabriskie Point Records, 2009) * ''

October is the Kindest Month ''October is the Kindest Month'' is the second studio album by the folk-singer John Craigie. It was released in August 2011 on Zabriskie Point Records. Zach Gill and Randy Schwartz returned for this album, along with Steve Adams on bass and Hol ...

'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2011) * '' The Apocalypse Is Over'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2013) * '' Working On My Farewell'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2015) * '' No Rain, No Rose'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2017) * ''

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...

'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2018) * ''Asterisk The Universe'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2020) * ''Mermaid Salt'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2022) * Pagan Church (Zabriskie Point Records, 2024)

Live albums

* ''Capricorn in Retrograde...just kidding...Live in Portland'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2016) * '' Opening for Steinbeck'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2017) * ''Greatest Hits... Just Kidding... Live - No Hits'' (Zabriskie Point Records, 2024)

Cover albums

* ''Leave the Fire Behind'' (cover versions of 1990s alternative rock songs, Zabriskie Point Records, 2012) * ''Paper Airplane'' (cover versions of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

songs, Zabriskie Point Records, 2012) * Abbey Road Lonely (cover of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

, Zabriskie Point Records, 2022)

References

External links

Official Website

Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craigie, John Living people 1980 births American folk musicians American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers