Nashville’s loss is the Pacific Northwest’s inestimable gain. With his return to home turf six years ago, journeyman singer, songwriter and guitarist John Bunzow is writing a new chorus for his brand of American roots music.

A seasoned veteran of one of music’s biggest meccas, Nashville, Bunzow has written for and performed with some of country and rock music’s biggest names. After leaving the Northwest scene which found him playing in popular all-original bands for over two decades, he set his sights on songwriter heaven – Nashville – scoring a songwriting contract with EMI Nashville/Famous Music, a recording contract with Liberty/Capitol Records, and quickly finding his services in big demand with Nashville recording artists.

Bunzow’s Stories of the Years, produced by Dwight Yoakam guitarist and producer Pete Anderson, earned high praise from press and radio, and helped establish him as first-call sideman for alternative artists including Allison Moorer and Chris Knight, as well as an engaging songwriter. His songs found their way onto projects by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Patty Loveless, and Jack Ingram (produced by Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy), among others, as well as song placements in major motion pictures.

Bunzow’s 2002 release, Darkness And Light, captured a stellar live-in-the-studio performance of 11 Bunzow originals, featuring an all-star backing band comprised of players who regularly perform with Mark Knopfler and Neil Young.

The gifted singer/songwriter has graced prestigious stages at Farm Aid, the Grand Ole Opry, and on tour in Switzerland, Germany, and England, as well as other parts of Europe and the U.S., and has been featured in various Country Music Television (CMT) videos and programming. He has also performed at the House of Blues in L.A., the Rykodisc Records Convention in New Orleans, the Sunbanks Blues Festival in Washington state, the Dallas-Fort Worth Rodeo, SXSW in Austin, and has headlined the NXNW Music Festival in Portland and countless state and county fairs.

As an artist and bandleader in his own right, he has shared bills with such music industry notables as Leon Russell, Gregg Allman, Bruce Cockburn, John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, Kim Richey, Govt. Mule, Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Iris Dement, Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell, Carl Perkins, Roy Clark, Allison Krauss, Porter Wagoner, Freddy Fender, Ricky Skaggs, Jim Messina, Rodney Foster, Joe Diffie, Trisha Yearwood, Gillian Welch, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young.

It’s Bunzow’s mix of eclectic musical influences – melding blues, country, rock and even jazz – that have helped establish him as an original artist of heartfelt depth, substance and style. He’s as likely to draw on his love of the music of scuffling barroom bard Tom Waits as he is the smooth R&B and soul of Marvin Gaye, the iconic folk wisdom of Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Ry Cooder or the blues of Albert King.

As Nashville and country-music trends shifted away from salt-of-the-earth working singer-songwriters in favor of flavor-of-the-month cover models and green-behind-the-ears young guns in Stetsons, Bunzow packed up his guitars and music notebooks and brought himself home where he continues to hone his sizable talents. He’s found old fans and new ones as he tirelessly tours Northwest nightclubs, concert halls, festival stages, casinos, wineries and resorts, playing original cuts from his most recent CDs, including Darkness, Alive at O’Connor’s and Off the Shelf, and creating music that touches the heart of anybody who’s ever raised a little hell on a Saturday night, or felt the pangs of a love gone bad.