John Waller was born in York and has lived in Beirut, Bristol, Belgrade and now Bradford, where he has been based since 1971. He has played guitar, written songs and sung at folk clubs on and off since first visiting the Troubadour in Bristol in the late 60s. He spent much of the 70s-90s involved with The Bradford Playhouse and Film Theatre (now The Priestley) but for several years he has been back in the folk world. He regularly performs at the Topic in Bradford as well as MCing and booking acts for the club. Musically, his long-standing influences are Al Stewart and The Incredible String Band, and more recently he has particularly liked Jez Lowe and Banoffi. In 2002 John underwent triple-bypass heart surgery, and in the recuperation period he both climbed Snowdon once more (first tackled at the age of 7) and started writing songs again after a gap of 30-plus years. He recorded material from both his songwriting eras on a laptop and in 2002 produced his first (non-studio) CD, Liberator. The title track is based on a story by John's brother Nick (see here) and reflects on how easy it is for 60 years of your life to be snuffed out.. "Palestine" was written in 1969 but is as relevant now. "Yer Bike" is a look at what Norman Tebbit's call might mean for some unfortunate Everyman. Between 2003 and 2005 John wrote several more songs and has now made his second (still home-produced) CD, Molecules. It includes the title song, recorded live at a Bristol Troubadour reunion concert in 2004, a completed version of "Goldfish" from Liberator performed by Ryan McGovern, and John's only cover, Al Stewart's "Samuel, Oh How You've Changed". | 
