John Dowling
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John started playing music at age 5 when, encouraged by his family at home in Cornwall, he started classical violin lessons. While this taught him a lot, he did not find the “fun” in music until at 12 years old he heard a 5 string banjo playing on the sound track of a Burt Reynolds car chase film.
At 14 he acquired his first banjo and, from that moment on, he’s devoted all his efforts to perfecting his unique way to make music.While studying A Level music at Truro College, John met keyboard player Jez Wing. They seemed to bond musically, writing new and exciting pieces for banjo and piano. They had no preconceptions stylistically on which to base their compositions, but open minds and varied musical backgrounds led to such interesting pieces as “Made with Blue and Red”, which can be found on the Black Cat Theory debut CD, (the name they eventually chose for themselves). In 2000, they entered the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award to simply showcase their material. To their surprise they won first place.
Shortly after, they added drums and double base to the line-up to give a fuller sound. They played at such places as Cambridge Folk Festival and Modal, as well as being given free recording studio time by the BBC. However, due to educational and other commitments, the band members had to go their separate ways.
John moved to the North West where the music scene is buzzing. He teamed up with ACLAIM (Acoustically Live and Inclusive Music), teaching banjo and doing school workshops. In July 2002, he read an article about The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, which sponsors eight instrumental contests including the USA National Bluegrass Banjo Championship. He made a fleeting comment to Bryn Williams, Chairman of ACLAIM, saying that he would love to enter that contest.
To his surprise, Bryn told him that he would sponsor him to go. Previous winners include such big names as Mark O'Connor, Alison Kraus and Chris Thile.So two months later John went out to the States on his own, with nothing but his banjo and a bag, to see how the experts would judge his ability. Although he was up against the likes of the great Jeff Scroggins – past two time winner – he still managed to win the first prize, taking home with him a very large trophy and a new banjo worth $4500.
John is the first European to have ever won this award.