Graham Butterfield

As the son of the writer and music teacher Arthur Butterfield, Graham was surrounded by music from an early age. Inspired by his dad's record collection of Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Alan Lomax and Burl Ives, he got his first guitar when he was fourteen. By the age of fifteen he was doing floor spots at London's folk clubs.
It was the mid sixties and the folk scene was exploding in London. Graham was a regular fixture at the new wave of clubs springing up during the period: Les Cousins in Soho, The Half Moon in Putney, Steve Benbow's club at Norbury and Cliff Aungier's Dungeon Club at Tower Bridge. However, it was performing at the legendary Troubadour Club that had the most significant impact on him.
Run beneath a coffee shop, by Martin Winsor and Redd Sullivan, the Troubadour played host to many of the musical greats of the era including Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix and Paul Simon. The Troubadour was at the heart of the British folk revival and was the place to hear the likes of Martin Carthy, Sandy Denny and Bert Jansch. The teenaged Graham was taken under the wing of Martin and Redd, and with their support and encouragement he played regular spots.
Having built up a following both in the UK and Germany, he met the country singer and musician Bryan Chalker in 1970 and, along with bass player Mic Jones, formed Bryan Chalker's New Frontier. They played throughout the UK and recorded a studio album in 1972 - The Hanging Of Samuel Hall - produced, recorded and designed by themselves. The Album sold over 30,000 copies and was twice BBC Radio 2's Record Of The Week. It was remastered in 2006 and released by Chapter One.
Commercial success led to regular appearances on Terry Wogan's radio show, BBC Radio 1, and BBC television, including 'Pebble Mill At One', one of the first daytime magazine programmes. Following a performance on the TV talent show 'Opportunity Knocks', the band was signed to Les Reed who wrote and arranged some of Tom Jones hits including Delilah. He produced their next album which was released on Decca (Chapter 1) Records. However, uncomfortable with the direction they were taking, Graham left Bryan Chalker's New Frontier in 1973.
In 1979 Graham published two pioneering guitar instruction books: Play Guitar Today and Play Rock Guitar Today. Graham devised a unique fingering system so that novice players could play popular hits of the day without learning to read musical scores. The books became bestsellers and still influence guitar manuals today.
Since his move to Exeter in the late 1970s, Graham has worked as a signalman on the railway and raised 2 sons. In the 1990s he started going to sessions and clubs around Devon, later helping to form The Old Porch Band. During his five years with them they built up a loyal following and had, in his words, 'a lot of fun'.
Now solo, Graham is well established in Westcountry folk music circles, performing at sessions in Exeter, Topsham, Tiverton, Bradninch and throughout the region.
Graham continues to explore and experiment with different musical traditions, recording his own original material in his studio set-up at his home in Exeter. See him play and you're as likely to hear unaccompanied traditional ballads and London music hall numbers as you are to hear English folk and American country songs.
Thanks to the power of the internet, Graham has been able to connect and swap ideas with enthusiasts around the world, and his recent recordings have featured on several online radio shows.
If you enjoy his tracks, or have a project you'd like to share, do get in touch.