Wednesday, May 18 • 8 pm • The Echo

1822 West Sunset Blvd. • Los Angeles, CA 90026 • (213) 413-8200

Ever since discovering a copy of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in a junk shop aged 13, Johnny Flynnhas known what he wants to do with his life: to take off on a path of discovery, and write poetic, lyrical songs that document the journey. With his second album Been Listening, recorded in various spaces in London and at Bear Creek Studios outside Seattle, you can hear that spirit of searching, a voice of the outsider. Johnny Flynn has developed the song-writing maturity — equal parts resigned and hopeful— that was strongly present in his debut A Larum. While his first album was couched in an English folk style, Been Listeningspreads its wings further.

Born in Johannesburg, Johnny grew up in Hampshire and South Wales. A classical music scholarship for his prodigious musicianship saw him through school, after which he headed for drama school in London, where he moonlighted as a fiddle player for his friend, the singer Emmy The Great, before striking off on his own.

Various acting jobs and a year with the Shakespearean theatre company Propeller followed. Now, backed by the critical acclaim and learning curve that A Larum gave him, Johnny Flynn is entering into a new level of song-writing maturity that recalls the accessibility and spiritual depth of an early 1970s Cat Stevens.

Alongside scoring A Bag Of Hammers, a forthcoming movie starring Rebecca Hall, and taking on the odd acting role, Johnny Flynn has funnelled everything from boyhood memories to feelings of loneliness into Been Listening to make a collection of songs that ring out with a wisdom beyond his years.