JOHN DURR has been a mainstay of Blues and Roots music in Australia for over 35 years, with a long and varied musical journey, employed in the music industry for most of his working life. Originally from country NSW, John first encountered the Blues in his youth in the form of T-Bone Walker, which sparked a lifelong passion for the genre. He kept his focus on the goal of producing and distributing Blues music throughout a variety of roles within the music industry. He looked to Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Leonard Chess of Chess Records and Sam Phillips of Sun Records for inspiration.
John found a passion in developing musicians and producing their recordings. Through early years as a performing musician himself, he moved on to managing roles in mastering and recording studios and CD manufacturing plants, gaining valuable insight and an overview into all facets and operations of the music industry. He established his own, much-lauded Australian Blues and Roots label – Black Market Music (BMM) in 1991, where he produced, recorded, released and distributed hundreds of album titles. Music journalist Christie Eliezer described BMM as “Australia’s most successful blues record label”.
Widely respected for his committment, dedication and proven track record in the Blues scene, John has been recognised with numerous music industry awards as Producer in Victorian and National Australian Blues Awards, and an ARIA in the Blues/Roots Category for “More Gravy” by Collard Greens and Gravy. He was at the forefront of developing Blues acts, guiding the early careeers and distributing award-winning releases of a multitude of highly successful local artists including Collard Greens and Gravy, Lloyd Speigel, Jimi Hocking, Fiona Boyes, Phil Manning, Nick Charles, The Detonators, Ash Grunwald, Dan Dinnen, Matt Corcoran, Jan Preston, Dreamboogie and many more.
John has a longstanding volunteer involvement with the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society (MBAS), and has been MBAS President since 2016. Over the years at MBAS, John was instrumental in forming the annual VICTAS Awards, and developing initiatives such as the MBAS Women ’N’ Blues Program.