Julian Fauth is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

pianist, singer and songwriter. He has collaborated on record with

Harmonica Shah Seward Daward Shah, known as Harmonica Shah (born March 31, 1946) is an American Detroit and electric blues harmonicist and singer. His playing was influenced by Junior Wells, Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Lazy Lester, and Little Sonny. Biography ...

, Curley Bridges,

Fruteland Jackson Fruteland Jackson (born June 9, 1953) is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Henry Townsend stated, "My respect for Fruteland Jackson is very high. He and my boy Alvin Youngblood Hart is the future sound of true acoustic ...

Finis Tasby Finis Tasby (February 1, 1939 – November 2, 2014) was a Los Angeles based blues singer and frontman for the group The Mannish Boys. Background and career There is some confusion over his birth details, depending on which source is referenced. ...

, and

David Rotundo David Rotundo (fl. 1991–2017) is a Canadian blues harp The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes ...

. Fauth has recorded four solo albums for Electro-Fi Records; his first was nominated for, and his second won, a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

. His third, ''Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right'', was selected as the 'Best Blues Album of 2012' by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. He has also received a

Maple Blues Award The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s blues awards, "honouring the finest in Canadian blues". They are the only comprehensive national best in blues awards program. The program's goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outs ...

and was nominated for several others. Fauth has opened for Johnny Winter,

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

and John Hammond. ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' stated that "he's been compared to Tom Waits and Bob Dylan, but blues singer-songwriter Julian Fauth is a true original". Fauth was influenced by fellow piano players including

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

, Leroy Carr, and Sunnyland Slim.

Life and career

Julian Fauth was born in Germany, and spent his early years in

Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...

. Fauth's father was a radio journalist and when Julian was six years old, his father brought home some surplus albums for the local radio station. One of these was a compilation album, ''The Golden Blues Hour'', which included tracks by Mississippi John Hurt and Buddy Guy. The young Fauth was further inspired hearing radio programmes including work by Leroy Carr, Scrapper Blackwell and

Bumble Bee Slim Admirl Amos Easton (May 7, 1905 – June 8, 1968), better known by the stage name Bumble Bee Slim, was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist. Biography Easton was born in Brunswick, Georgia, United States. Several original sources c ...

. Having been left a piano after the death of one of his aunts, Fauth attempted to play the instrument in the style of

. In his teenage years, Fauth became a protege of Mel Brown. Fauth's later time at university saw him gain a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in philosophy. In 1996, Fauth relocated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and began playing in the bars around

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canad ...

, where he befriended

. Fauth developed his own style based on pre- war barrelhouse boogie-woogie, tinged with elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. He expanded his range playing across the United States, as well as in Russia and Cuba. Fauth also worked with locally based musicians such as David Rotundo,

Paul Reddick Paul Reddick is a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player. He was the founder of the group The Sidemen, active from 1990 until the early 2000s. History Born in Toronto, Ontario,Larry LeblancProfile of Paul ReddickBlues Art Journa ...

, and

Michael Pickett Michael Pickett may refer to: * Michael Pickett (musician) Michael Pickett is a multiple award-winning Canadian blues and roots singer, guitarist and harmonica player. Career Michael Pickett was born in Toronto on September 19, 1950. Pickett c ...

. Fauth began to write his own songs and to reinterpret more traditional material. Along with Ken Yoshioka (harmonica) and Mike Robertson (steel guitar), Fauth formed the trio Dark Holler, named after a

Clarence Ashley Clarence "Tom" Ashley (September 29, 1895 – June 2, 1967) was an American musician and singer, who played the clawhammer banjo and the guitar. He began performing at medicine shows in the Appalachia, Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911 ...

tune. They released the album ''Mother Earth'' (1998). In 2000, Fauth met Bob Mover and played alongside him for a while, before touring in Russia with Rotundo two years later. His debut album, ''Songs of Vice and Sorrow'', was released by Electro-Fi Records in 2005, the cover of which depicted a dishevelled image of

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the album as "a unique, idiosyncratic, and often fascinating statement". It was nominated for both

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

and Maple Blues Awards. His follow-up was ''Ramblin' Son'' (2008), which saw original material interspersed with a cover version of

Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her Gospel music, gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spir ...

's "Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down", and rearrangements of

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

's "Hopeless Love Affair", Guitar Slim's "Done Got Over That" and the Carter Family's " Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)". Reddick and Rotundo both supplied harmonica parts to several tracks. ''Ramblin' Son'' won a

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

for Blues Album of the Year. Prior to this, Fauth played the piano on

's 2006 album, ''Listen at Me Good'', as part of a guest list that included Mel Brown and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. In 2010, ''Julian Fauth: The Blues Is Just A Feeling'' was released. It was a black and white

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, incorporating concert footage both of Fauth at the Winterfolk Festival in Toronto, and the International Blues Challenge in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, along with interviews. The same year Fauth was part of the various artists ensemble that recorded ''Electro-Fi Records Presents Blues Piano-Rama''. Another Electro-Fi Records release, the issue contained tracks by Bobby Dean Blackburn, Curley Bridges,

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne (born Kenneth Wayne Spruell, November 13, 1944) is an American blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. Music journalist, Jeff Johnson, writing in the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' stated, "There's no boogi ...

, and Fauth. Fauth was voted the 'Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year' at the 14th Annual Maple Blues Awards. ''Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right'' (2012) was Fauth's third solo album, this time containing all his own song writing work. It was named as the 'Best Blues Album of 2012' by the CBC. In January 2015, Fauth performed at the Bassment in Saskatoon as part of their 'Blues Series'. In June that year, Fauth again supplied guest piano work, along with Jack de Keyzer's guitar, to Harmonica Shah, this time for the latter's album, ''If You Live to Get Old, You Will Understand''.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official websiteVideo footage of Fauth performing his own song, "Blues for Mel Brown."Fauth discography at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauth, Julian Living people Canadian blues singers Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Musicians from Kitchener, Ontario Musicians from Toronto Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year winners Canadian male pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian male singers Year of birth missing (living people)

Life and career

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links