John Dignam

John Dignam is a young and exciting acoustic guitarist from South Wales, UK. Since picking up the guitar seven years ago, John has become a successful musician, composer and has performed across the globe.

John was born in 1989 in the seaside town of Swansea. John has always been extremely passionate about music and performing but it wasn’t until the age of fourteen that John picked up his first guitar. It was a second hand Fender Squire Stratocaster that John purely bought ‘because all the other guys at school were getting guitars’. Little did John know that a burning passion would develop that would see him go on to perform with his heroes and all over the world.

After playing the electric guitar for a year John bought an acoustic guitar and began a course of lessons. However, he quickly outgrew his teacher and began to teach himself the music of his heroes such as Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. Within a few years John had mastered these pieces and began to perform at local clubs, cafes and restaurants. He also began to compose his own pieces and write his own songs.

In 2005 John met his idol, the great Tommy Emmanuel and performed a few pieces for him. Tommy and John stayed in touch and two years later John was invited to share the stage with Tommy at one of his UK concerts and since then has shared the stage with him at several of his UK concerts at venues such as Colston Hall and the Birmingham Town Hall. Tommy has been a great friend, support and mentor to John and says that he "'...has a huge future ahead of him...".

Over the next few years John continued to write and perform. Some highlights of John’s career so far include performances at various top UK festivals such as the London Jazz Festival, Tommy Fest UK, the Mumbles Jazz Festival, Gower Guitar Festival and performed on stage at some of the UK’s top venues including the prestigious Colston Hall. John has also ventured into Europe with a performance at the Tommy Fest in Rietberg, Germany. In March 2010 John headed out on his first UK tour with the fantastic Jon Gomm and Byron Johnston. But without a doubt, the biggest moment of John’s performing career was in the summer of 2010 when John was invited to play at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Annual Convention in Nashville, USA. John was one of only two UK performers, the other was Martin Taylor.

John’s original music has been very well received with airplay on various radio stations nationwide including BBC Radio 2. John’s debut CD ‘Down to earth...’ was released in early 2010. John has also developed a passion for songwriting and incorporates his singing into his live set. Audiences regularly request John’s vocal songs at concerts.

The future looks bright for John and he has recently been awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music which boasts alumni members including the wonderful John Mayer.