John Wesley Harding › Similar Artists

Guadalcanal Diary - 100% match to John Wesley Harding

This quartet was formed in Marietta, Georgia, USA, in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist Murray Attaway and guitar player Jeff Walls, initially as a vehicle to perform renditions of Civil War songs. However, with a line-up of Robert Crowe (bass) and John Poe (drums), they went on to specialize in guitar-led songs with impassioned and wilful lyrics, in a manner that prefigured the 90s r Read more

Michael Penn - 44% match to John Wesley Harding

1 August 1958, New York, USA. The brother of actors Sean and Christopher Penn (the former the one-time husband of Madonna), Michael Penn achieved a mainstream breakthrough with his 1989 AOR debut for RCA Records, March. Extracted from it, the single ‘No Myth’ reached the US Top 20 and established Penn as a commercial force, not least through the extensive airplay g Read more

The Minus 5 - 43% match to John Wesley Harding

Upon relocating to Seattle, Washington, USA in the early 90s, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck soon became involved in several side projects with local musicians, including the jazzy Tuatara and the warped Beach Boys / Beatles -influenced outfit, the Minus 5. While the band has seen various musicians pass through their ranks since their inception in 1993, the only other member to ac Read more

The Young Fresh Fellows - 32% match to John Wesley Harding

Freedy Johnston - 31% match to John Wesley Harding

1961, Kinsley, Kansas, USA. Johnston, a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter whose music defies easy categorization, made his debut for Bar/None Records in 1990 with the Chris Butler-produced The Trouble Tree. An accomplished record, highlighted by the artist’s succinct lyrics and able characterization of his subjects, it received positive reviews throughout the US un Read more

The Smithereens - 31% match to John Wesley Harding

Influenced by the 60s pop of the Beatles, Beach Boys and the Byrds, the Smithereens formed in New Jersey, USA, in 1980. Members Jim Babjak (guitar) and Dennis Diken (drums) had played together since 1971; Mike Mesaros (bass) was recruited in 1976, and finally Pat DiNizio (vocals). After recording two EPs, they backed songwriter Otis Blackwell (‘Great Balls Of Fire’) o Read more

Matthew Sweet - 30% match to John Wesley Harding

6 October 1964, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Before the success of his third album, 1991’s Girlfriend, Matthew Sweet had been best known for his work in the late 80s with the Golden Palominos. Before that, in the early 80s, he had recorded under the name Buzz Of Delight, based in Athens, Georgia, issuing a mini-album entitled Sound Castles which was produced by Don Dixon. Tw Read more

Robyn Hitchcock - 29% match to John Wesley Harding

Marshall Crenshaw - 28% match to John Wesley Harding

11 November 1953, Detroit, Michigan, USA. After portraying John Lennon in the stage show Beatlemania, Crenshaw forged a solo career as a solid and dependable performer of the classic urban American pop song. His rock ‘n’ roll songs are sprinkled with lyrics discoursing on the perennial problems of the lovelorn and the trials of being in love.

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Graham Parker - 25% match to John Wesley Harding

18 November 1950, London, England. Having begun his career in aspiring soul groups the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three, R&B vocalist Parker undertook menial employment while completing several demo tapes of his original songs. One such collection came to the attention of David Robinson, owner of a small recording studio within a building housing the north London, Hope & Read more

Paul Westerberg - 24% match to John Wesley Harding

31 December 1959, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Westerberg had been planning a solo project even before his band, the Replacements, imploded in 1991, but his first work under his own name comprised two tracks on the soundtrack of the 1992 ‘slacker’ movie Singles. This was followed by 14 Songs, perceived by some critics to be a return to the punked-up glory days of B Read more

Material Issue - 23% match to John Wesley Harding

Belonging to the pop rock tradition of Tom Petty and Big Star, Material Issue arrived in the mid-80s from Chicago, Illinois, USA, to great critical fanfare. The band comprised songwriter Jim Ellison (James Walter Ellison, 18 April 1964, USA, d. 20 June 1996, Chicago, Illinois, USA; vocals/guitar, previously a member of fellow Chicago band Green), Fred Ansani (bass/vocals) an Read more

Old 97's - 23% match to John Wesley Harding

This Texas, USA-based band initially formed part of a second wave of grittier, grass roots country rockers inspired by the breakthrough of bands such as Uncle Tupelo and Green On Red, although they are compared to the Replacements and Clash as much as the former artists. Singer-songwriter Rhett Miller (Dallas, Texas, USA) first started playing with bass player Murry Hammond Read more

World Party - 21% match to John Wesley Harding

Founded on the talents of ex-Waterboys keyboard player Karl Wallinger (19 October 1957, Prestatyn, Wales), World Party had to work hard to shrug off comparisons with the leader of his former band, Mike Scott. This was a little unjust, bearing in mind Wallinger’s quite separate, but in many ways equal, songwriting abilities. Wallinger was born the son of an architect fat Read more

Hoodoo Gurus - 20% match to John Wesley Harding

An Australian rock band whose belief in the power of the bar chord has never diminished, Sydney’s Hoodoo Gurus initially shared links with that city’s other major alternative rock attraction of the 80s, the Scientists (after both relocated from Perth). That connection was instigated by singer-songwriter Dave Faulkner, who had previously played in a band called the Gur Read more