John Kruth is a

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

/multi-instrumentalist best known for his highly energetic “Banshee

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

” style of playing. He has also worked as a music journalist and has authored several book about popular music.

Biography

He is also proficient on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

and various

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s. Kruth is co-founder and the main songwriter of New York-based world music ensemble TriBeCaStan, and also a music

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Kruth’s first biography, ''Bright Moments – The Life and Legacy of

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

'' was first published in the U.S. and England in 2000 by Welcome Rain Books. ''Bright Moments'' was translated into Japanese and published by

Kawade Shobō Shinsha , formerly , is a publisher founded in 1886 in Japan and headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo. It publishes the magazine '' Bungei'' and administers the Bungei Prize. History Kawade Shobō Shinsha traces its history to 1886 when a new br ...

in 2005. His most recent

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

is ''Rhapsody In Black - The Life and Music of Roy Orbison'' from Hal Leonard Books, NYC.'' He is also the author of To Live’s To Fly - the Ballad of

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

'', was published by Da Capo Books in March 2007, winner of 2008 Deems Taylor ASCAP Award for Best Musical Biography. Kruth has twelve solo albums to his credit. His CD ''Splitsville'' was released in the fall of 2008 by Smiling Fez Records. In November 1997 Kruth performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

as a soloist for composer John Corigliano on the Moroccan folk oboe called the ghaita, commonly played by the Master Musicians of Jajouka. Besides leading the New York-based world music ensemble TriBeCaStan, Kruth has also performed with playwright

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

, poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

, performance artist

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

, producer

Hal Willner Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...

, folksinger

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

, as well as

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 200 ...

, the

Meat Puppets Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothe ...

King Missile King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986. History King Missile (Dog Fly Rel ...

, Peter Stampfel,

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

James Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

, Steve Buscemi,

Eric von Schmidt Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 – February 2, 2007) was an American singer and guitarist, songwriter, painter and illustrator, and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a key part o ...

, Stan Ridgeway,

Bob Neuwirth Robert John Neuwirth (June 20, 1939May 18, 2022) was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. He was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit s ...

Die Kreuzen Die Kreuzen (/ˈdiːˈkɹɔɪtsn̩/) is an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin formed in 1981. The name, which was taken from a German Bible, is grammatically incorrect German for "the crosses."Larkin, Colin (1995) "Die Kreuzen", in ''T ...

, Cyberchump and members of

Camper Van Beethoven Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and world music. The band init ...

. In 2006, he traveled to India where he studied mandolin and performed with Carnatic mandolin virtuoso U. Rajesh. Kruth is currently a Professor of Music at the College of Mount St. Vincent. In the past, his writing has appeared in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

, The Progressive, Frets'', and ''Signal to Noise''. He is currently a regular contributor to ''Rave'' (India), ''Sing Out!, Wax Poetics'' and ''

Fretboard Journal The ''Fretboard Journal'' is a keepsake magazine for guitar, mandolin, and stringed instrument players. In the same vein of other "coffee table magazines" such as '' The Surfer's Journal'', the Golfer's Journal and the ''Rodder's Journal'', it bo ...

''. He spent much of his early career in Milwaukee, but now lives in New York City.

Discography

* 1987: ''Midnight Snack'', Hopewell Records (with

) * 1989: ''Greasy Kid Stuff'', Chameleon Records (with

Brian Ritchie Brian Ritchie (born November 21, 1960) is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence i ...

) * 1989: ''Final Vinyl'', Chameleon Records (song Boomerang appeared on picture disc with

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

, L7 and Bill Ward) * 1992: ''Banshee Mandolin'', Flying Fish Records * 1994: ''Blind Bear'', Dupah Disc (song on children’s compilation Shrimp Whistles) * 1995: ''Midnight Snack'', Spit Records (re-issue of 1987 release) * 1995: ''The Cherry Electric'', Weasel Disc * 1996: ''Toast'', Weasel Disc (with

Jonathan Segel Jonathan Segel (born September 3, 1963) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, and Dieselhed. Early life and education Segel was born in Marseille, France, a ...

and Victor Krummenacher) * 1998: ''Last Year Was A Great Day'', Gadfly Records (with

Gordon Gano Gordon James Gano (born June 7, 1963) is an American musician widely known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American folk punk band Violent Femmes. Early life Gano was born in New York City to actor parents Norman and Faye Gano, and gr ...

) * 1999: ''Moon Dog Girl'', Sparkling Beatnik Records (with

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

and

) * 2000: ''Everywhere You’ve Never Been'', Label M/Smiling Fez Records (with

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourt ...

) * 2001: ''Harry and Albert'', Electronic Music Foundation (song on State of the Union compilation produced by

) * 2002: ''Share The Failure'', Smithsonian Folkways Records (song on Fast Folk compilation) * 2004: ''Songs from the Windy Attic'', Smiling Fez Records * 2007: ''Eva Destruction'', Crustacean Records (with members of

Plasticland Plasticland is an American Neo-Psychedelic and Garage rock (revival) band, formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1980 with two members of Arousing Polaris, Glenn Rehse and John Frankovic. Career Several guitarists and drummers would rotate in and o ...

and

) * 2008: ''Splitsville - Sonic Impressions of Croatia'' (with

Matt Darriau Matt Darriau (born in Bloomington, Indiana), is a Balkan, klezmer, Celtic and jazz musician. His most notable work is with Balkan rhythm quartet Paradox Trio, The Klezmatics, and Orange Then Blue. Other musical projects include Ballin' the Jac ...

and Victor Krummenacher), Smiling Fez Records * 2015: ''The Drunken Wind of Life - The Song/Poems of Tin Ujevic'' (with Miroslav and Gordana Evacic and

and Victor Krummenacher), Smiling Fez Records * 2018: ''Forever Ago'', Ars Spoletium Publishing (Italy) * 2021: ''Love Letters from The Lazaretto'' John Kruth has appeared on recordings by

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...

Sex Mob Sexmob (also styled Sex Mob) is an American jazz band based in New York City that formed as a Knitting Factory vehicle for Steven Bernstein to exercise his slide trumpet. Sexmob's sets feature a high proportion of covers, usually familiar pop s ...

, Reptile Palace Orchestra, Lambchop,

, Tiny Lights,

Gideon Freudmann Gideon Freudmann, is a composer, performer and cello innovator coined the term ''CelloBop'' to describe his music. His solo performances often include improvisation and the use of technology to sample, loop and layer tracks in real time to create ...

Christine Lavin Christine Lavin (born January 2, 1952) is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin ...

, Lillie Palmer,

Rod MacDonald Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator. He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs", performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwr ...

and The Mercy Seat.

Publications

Books

* 2017 - ''A Friend of the Devil'' - The Glorification of the Outlaw in Song - From Robin Hood to Rap - Hal Leonard Books, NYC - 288 pages * 2015 - ''This Bird Has Flown - The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul - 50 Years On''- Hal Leonard Books, NYC * 2013 - ''Rhapsody In Black - The Life and Music of Roy Orbison'' - Hal Leonard Books, NYC * 2008 - ''Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Des Moments Lumineux'' French edition published by INFOLIO Musique Edition * 2007 - ''To Live's To Fly -The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt'' - Da Capo Books, NYC. 236 pages. Winner of 2008 Deems Taylor ASCAP Award for Best Musical Biography * 2005 - ''Bright Moments – The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk'' – Japanese edition published by

, Tokyo, Japan. 400 pages. * 2000 – ''Bright Moments – The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk'' - Welcome Rain Books, NYC. 400 pages.

Poetry and Short Prose

* 1992 – "Like Jazz" – Spanfeller Press (illustrated by Joe Ciardiello) * 1992 – "Little Bullets" – Barefoot Press (illustrated by Marvin Hill http://www.marvinhill.com)) * 1989 – "The Bayou Stomp" – Jackalope Press (illustrated by Marvin Hill http://www.marvinhill.com) * 1989 – "The Horrorscope" – Jackalope Press (with collages by the author) * 1988 – "The Perfumed Firecracker" – Jackalope Press (illustrated by Lane Smith) * 1986 – "Bed Crumbs" – Jackalope Press (illustrated by Gary Panter) * 1984 – "Exorcises" – Jackalope Press (illustrated by Henrik Drescher) * 1983 – "Modern Heaven" – Jackalope Press (illustrated by Randall Enos)

Notes

External links

Evergreen Music, bio of John Kruth

References

* http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com, * http://www.crustaceanrecords.com, * http://www.allmusic.com, * http://www.puremusic.com, * http://www.sharkforum.org, * http://www.emando.com, * https://web.archive.org/web/20110924190827/http://www.shilv.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruth, John Living people American folk singers American music journalists American singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Fast Folk artists American mandolinists American jazz mandolinists Jazz mandolinists Year of birth missing (living people)