Getting his start as a humble busker in Fremantle, Western Australia, California-born John Butler forged his titular trio to showcase his passionate, stunningly varied take on roots rock. Although the group’s drummer and bassist would change over the years, the configuration bore robust fruits right from 2001’s eight-minute jam “Betterman,” which introduced Butler’s expressive singing, intricate fingerpicking, and rustic slide guitar to a wide audience. It was enough to earn him a US record deal, and that song became the first in a handful of his to crack the Top 10 in triple j’s annual Hottest 100 poll. Powered by its funky lead single “Zebra,” which won an APRA Award for Song of the Year, the band’s 2004 album Sunrise Over Sea enjoyed multiplatinum sales in Australia. Butler reconfirmed his versatility with 2007’s “Better Than,” a banjo-led hit that presaged the rise of indie folk acts like Mumford & Sons. Yet, just three years later, 2010’s “Revolution” proved that the trio could properly rock out without sounding emotionally distant. After releasing the 2018 album HOME, the band parted ways. That allowed Butler to explore solo work like 2025’s “Trippin On You,” which neatly connects the dots between pop, blues, folk, funk, and his other predilections.