John Butler’s love of the land is the stuff of legend. Now, the band leader takes viewers on a journey to the place where his heart lies, for the second season of SBS’s “Great Australian Walks.”
The ARIA Award-winning musician and activist leads from the front in episode one, airing Thursday, August 22nd, for which he takes host Julia Zemiro on a ramble through Western Australia’s stunning Cape to Cape Track and explores his connection to the region.
The John Butler Trio frontman reveals that he moved from California to an area southeast of Perth when he was 10, before discovering Margaret River, in the southwest of western Australia, a place where he “found home” and honed a passion for activism.
“Julia and the producers were interested in seeing if I’d want to talk about some country down south in western Australia. I jumped at the chance because I love country,” he tells Variety AU/NZ. “I love speaking about it. And I love Julia. So, you know, it was a win-win on all fronts.”
Butler has a connection to the region that runs across generations. His father was born in the southwest of Western Australia and moved to California in the ’70s, where he met Butler’s mother. In 1986, a move to the southwest and the small town Pinjarra. “My life completely changed. I grew up on the river,” he recounts. “In many ways, I found home, and years later we found out that Pinjarra was a place where my great, great grandfather was buried in an unmarked grave.”
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In some respects, he tells Variety AU/NZ, “we had returned like salmon swimming back upstream. Growing up on that river and having those experiences, it’s also a place where I was first exposed to indigenous culture. Just some really beautiful families.”
Moving to Australia in the mid-’80s “was a very formative time of my life that had a massive effect on me and how I see myself in in the context of country and culture.”
That country and culture is infused in Butler’s May 2024 studio album, the ambient “Running River,” which features in the premiere of “Great Australian Walks.”
“Running River” is his first musical release since 2018’s ARIA Chart leader “Home,” and will be followed up with an instrumental album in late 2024, then a solo album in 2025. Butler will perform “Running River” in full on Thursday, October 24th at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre for Nowra Festival.
“Great Australian Walks” with Julia Zemiro explores 10 day walks across the country, with Susie Youssef (“The Project”,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” “Rosehaven”) and “Alone Australia” winner Gina Chick along for the ride.
Butler’s episode premieres August 22nd on SBS and SBS On Demand.
The series is executive-produced by Dan Goldberg, Craig Graham, and Zemiro, and produced by Jodi Boylan. Helen Barrow directs and Daniel Whelan is producer.