John Fullbright

John Fullbright (born April 23, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter from Okemah, Oklahoma. While still in high school, Fullbright performed at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah. In 2009 he released the album Live at the Blue Door and three years later released his first studio album, From the Ground Up, which received a Grammy nomination in the category Best Americana Album. He has been the subject of two segments on NPR and was a 2012 winner of ASCAP Foundation's Harold Adamson Lyric Award.

Fullbright grew up on an 80-acre farm in Okemah, Oklahoma. He began playing the piano at age five and taking piano lessons at the age nine. Fullbright attended public school in Okemah, Oklahoma, and graduated from Okemah High School. While still in high school he performed in an Okemah restaurant using an amplifier borrowed from the school band and made his debut performance at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

Fullbright briefly attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma, but left college to work with musician Mike McClure. A year later, after appearing on McClure's 2008 release did7, Fullbright began his solo career.

Fullbright got his start in the music industry as a member of the Oklahoma band the Turnpike Troubadours also from the Okemah area.

He performed an Oklahoma City venue called The Blue Door for the first time in April 2008. Live at the Blue Door was recorded by Travis Linville on February 17, 2009, his fourth appearance at the venue, the night before he left for the 2009 Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis. The owner of the club later became Fullbright's manager. In 2012 Fullbright's performance at the SXSW was described as being "as perfect as if it were a Jonathan Demme concert film." In June, he played the main stage at the Kerrville Folk Festival and in July at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival's Pastures of Plenty main stage. The music reviewer at No Depression wrote in her blog: "People who hadn’t heard Fullbright previously were stopped in their tracks by the brilliance of this 24-year-old whose mature lyrics have an immediate impact."

Fullbright's debut studio release From the Ground Up – released on May 8, 2012 – was recorded and mixed at 115 Recording in Norman, Oklahoma, with producer/engineer Wes Sharon. The title of the release pays homage to the farmhouse where he grew up. Fullbright states: "Every song on this record was written in that house, and I was kind of written in that house." In the studio with his backing musicians, Fullbright was almost immediately captivated by what he was hearing. Although he initially thought he would leave the studio with a demo record, he says: "We got lost in it in those three hours we were recording. We all looked at each other and thought, ‘No, this is the record. It’s not going to get any better than this anywhere else."

Favorable reviews include The Washington Times which said: "From the Ground Up proves to be a killer debut, pairing sharply worded stories that resonate with confident performances that pop." The album peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Folk Albums chart for the week of June 9, 2012.

Fullbright performed at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute concert honoring Chuck Berry on October 27, 2012. The concert – part of the Hall's American Music Masters Series – took place in Cleveland at the State Theater. Fullbright played keyboard and harmonica on "Downbound Train." In his review of the show for Cleveland Scene, Jeff Niesel wrote: "While the New York Dolls David Johansen and Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister brought star power to the show, it was little known Americana singer-pianist John Fullbright who really shined on his contribution, a moody rendition of "Downbound Train."