Early Life and Education
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler (or John Charles Butler) was born on 1 April 1975 in Torrance, California, United States. His Australian father with Australian, Greek and Bulgarian ancestry, Darryl Wiltshire-Butler, and American mother, Barbara (née Butler – unrelated), divorced and Butler migrated to Western Australia with his father, brother and sister in January 1986. He was named after his paternal grandfather, John Wiltshire-Butler, a forestry worker who died fighting a bushfire in Nannup. He moved to the small town of Pinjarra when he was eleven, and he attended the local primary and secondary schools.
Butler's genealogy was investigated on an episode of SBS Television's series, Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired on 1 November 2009. The show traced his family history from his deceased grandfather – reading war diaries – through to ancestors in Bulgaria and the events of the 1876 April Uprising.
Butler began playing guitar at the age of sixteen after his grandmother gave him a 1930s dobro belonging to his deceased grandfather. In 1996, Butler attended Curtin University in Perth and enrolled in an art teaching course but abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music.
Butler was a participant in the Western Australian skateboarding scene and is recognised for his involvement with the internationally-renowned "Woolstores" street spot.
Read more about this topic: John Butler (musician)
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