VIII John Illsley

• 1 It's a Long Way Back 05:50
• 2 I Love You Still 04:10
• 3 21st Century 05:20
• 4 Market Town 04:56
• 5 The Mission Song 05:00
• 6 Wondering 04:25
• 7 Which Way is Up 03:47
• 8 None of This Was Planned 04:47
• 9 I'm Only Sleeping 03:58
• Total Runtime 42:13

Info for VIII

John Illsley (bass player of Dire Straits) returns with his 8th studio album 'VIII'. Following the publication of the successful autobiography 'My Life in Dire Straits', John's new album instantly evokes the sound of the band and will be a delight to fans old and new. The album features 8 brand new songs at the time of release, plus a newly recorded studio version of the classic Beatles track 'I'm Only Sleeping' which John performed at the virtual 'Dear John' concert in 2020 celebrating John Lennon's 80th birthday.

"...not just Dire Straits fans who have yet to join John on his solo ventures should check out ‘VIII’ at the earliest opportunity. 'VIII' is an impressive release from a man who is seemingly very happy in his own skin, reflecting on the past but looking to the future. John will also be out on the road bringing his solo work and the music of Dire Straits to a host of towns (many of them quite rural) on his upcoming UK tour, which seems fitting and I'm sure will be a fine night out." (edguitarmusic.com)

John Illsley, bass, vocals
Steve Smith, keyboards
Scott Mckeon, lead guitar, gut strung guitar
Robbie McIntosh, electric guitar
Melvin Duffy, pedal steel guitar
Paul Beavis, drums, percussion
Hannah Robinson, backing vocals, percussion
Jessica Van den Bogaerde, backing vocals
DeeDee Illsley, backing vocals

John Illsley
is an English musician who rose to fame as the base guitarist of the critically acclaimed band Dire Straits. With Dire Straits, John has been the recipient of multiple BRIT and Grammy Awards, and a Heritage award.

As one of the founding members (with Mark Knopfler, his brother David and drummer Pick Withers), John played a major role in the development of the Dire Straits sound.

Throughout it all, John and Mark were the only founding members to remain in the line up of Dire Straits right through from 1977 until they decided to call it a day in 1995. They still remain close friends and recently produced a programme “Guitar Stories” for Sky Arts. During their time together as Dire Straits they sold over 120 million albums and toured extensively across the world. When Dire Straits took a couple of well earned breaks John released two albums; Never Told a Soul (1984) and Glass (1988). Both featured Mark Knopfler as a guest musician.

When Dire Straits finished touring in 1993, John became involved in the art world. Having carved out a reputation for himself as a painter, John had solo exhibitions in London, New York, Sydney and across Europe.

John happened upon the Irish band Cunla in a Leicestershire pub in March 2005. He appeared with them on several occasions, most notably on 23 September 2006 at Cathedrale d’Image in Les Baux de Provence, France. The performance was recorded and subsequently released as an album, Live in Les Baux, in 2007.

In October 2008 John released Beautiful You, an album with Greg Pearle from Cunla and followed the release with a a short tour of Ireland. May 2010 saw the release of Streets of Heaven, with appearances from Mark Knopfler and a host of other musicians. The album was recorded at British Grove studios and produced by John and Guy Fletcher.

John signed Native Roses to his label, Creek Publishing, in February 2011. He produced their debut album alongside Guy Fletcher between December 2011 and July 2012.

He co-founded the children's charity Life Education 1987 which was recently integrated into Coram, one of the oldest UK charities.

This album contains no booklet.