John McLoughlin John is a native of Dublin, and is regarded as one of Ireland’s finest guitar players. Growing up in Dublin John was introduced to the guitar by his music teacher and he never looked back.
His early years playing guitar were spent mainly ‘rocking out’ to the wonderful Rory Gallaher and Pink Floyd; this honed John’s love for the guitar and these artists were big musical influences on him as a young man.
Whilst attending college John formed his own band with his brother Alan, performing and touring all over Ireland. Heavily influenced by blues John very fortunate to work with a number of visiting American blues artists including George “Wild Child” Butler, Joe Louis Walker and Johnny Mars to name a few.
In 1993 John moved to Cork in the South of Ireland and completed a Diploma in Instrumental Music Teaching (Classical Guitar). Whilst completing his diploma John also studied Harmony and Composition with Irish composer Seamus DeBarra which honed his natural musical skills even further.
In September of 1993 he began working as a professional guitarist playing and recording for a number of years with renowned traditional Galway folk singer Sean Keane. During that time John worked on several major albums, including Sean Keane's Valley Of The Heart, and You got Gold.
More recently he has been working with award winning Irish singer and songwriter Damien Dempsey. This includes extensive touring, recording and latterly some arranging and co-writing. John has featured on all of Damien’s recordings since 2005, including the celebrated Live at Vicar Street DVD. John has performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals in the world including: Glastonbury, Womad (UK), Hop Farm Festival, Tonder Festival (Denmark), Celtic Connections Glasgow and he performed at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Brian Eno Luminaire Festival.
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His early years playing guitar were spent mainly ‘rocking out’ to the wonderful Rory Gallaher and Pink Floyd; this honed John’s love for the guitar and these artists were big musical influences on him as a young man.
Whilst attending college John formed his own band with his brother Alan, performing and touring all over Ireland. Heavily influenced by blues John very fortunate to work with a number of visiting American blues artists including George “Wild Child” Butler, Joe Louis Walker and Johnny Mars to name a few.
In 1993 John moved to Cork in the South of Ireland and completed a Diploma in Instrumental Music Teaching (Classical Guitar). Whilst completing his diploma John also studied Harmony and Composition with Irish composer Seamus DeBarra which honed his natural musical skills even further.
In September of 1993 he began working as a professional guitarist playing and recording for a number of years with renowned traditional Galway folk singer Sean Keane. During that time John worked on several major albums, including Sean Keane's Valley Of The Heart, and You got Gold.
More recently he has been working with award winning Irish singer and songwriter Damien Dempsey. This includes extensive touring, recording and latterly some arranging and co-writing. John has featured on all of Damien’s recordings since 2005, including the celebrated Live at Vicar Street DVD. John has performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals in the world including: Glastonbury, Womad (UK), Hop Farm Festival, Tonder Festival (Denmark), Celtic Connections Glasgow and he performed at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Brian Eno Luminaire Festival.
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