John Kyle is a uniquely engaging singer/songwriter with a dark poetic vibe and a musical style that’s been compared to Neil Young, R.E.M. and Radiohead. He’s gone from busking in Harvard Square for a living to performing music festivals and songwriter showcases across the United States.
Influenced by melancholy and meaningful music from all genres, John’s acoustic-guitar centered songs, both somber and soaring, capture his ethos of making music to form deep connections by showing people that they’re not alone in the dark and there’s a reason for hope.
Rising from melancholic guitar chords into moving, rock-infused anthems, new songs like “Given Me“, “Soon” and “Summer Came” see John embracing his influences, echoing the essence of bands such as Pink Floyd and R.E.M. and channeling them into his own emotional pieces.
In his own words, John Kyle’s process is organic and straight from the heart – “I don’t set out to write a song about this or that. My songs seem to rise on their own out of somewhere, and I just try to let the meaning and the message reveal itself, in music and words. I write and sing songs that I feel down to my core because that’s where they come from.”
John is releasing new music and touring across California during the coming months.
My Story, Part One – John Kyle
I was three years old when my dad put Johnny Cash’s Live at Folsom Prison cassette into my Fisher Price cassette tape player. I played that tape over and over until I could sing every song by heart. You could say I cut my teeth on the “Man In Black.”
There’s always mystery, melancholy and something deep and real in the music that I love best. From Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” to Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” to Radiohead’s “Let Down.” And of course, Johnny Cash singing death songs to prisoners to give them hope. Or at least let them know somebody gives a damn.
These songs are magical, the ones that give us the chills, stop us dead in our tracks and feel the beauty washing over us, even make us cry, and we play them over and over because they’re so great. My life has been “saved by rock and roll” many times. Music like this moved me, inspired me, and let me know I was not alone.
I want to pay these songs back, to “pay it forward,” to create deep, meaningful songs that reach people in the darkness. I want to write the “kind of song that truly saves people.”
I invite you to come see me play live. Sharing music with a live audience is where magic truly happens.
Come over to my Patreon page for exclusive live and behind-the-scenes videos, song demos, the stories behind my songs, and more.
I hope my music helps you know that you’re not alone.
- John
PS. Want to know more of my story? Join me here: free.johnkyle.com/moon