His versatile, experimental approach, reminiscent of Jim O’Rourke, Christian Fennesz, and Marc Ribot, pushes at the boundaries of new guitar music and the UK avant folk scene. McGrath recently supported Richard Dawson and performed with Rhys Chatham and Dustin Wong. He has just completed a PhD on Beckett, repetition and modern music, and is currently a lecturer in Music Aesthetics at the University of Liverpool." -The Wire

"Bringing a touch of the 21st century to the guitar soli scene, Irish guitarist John McGrath combines loop pedal technology with Takoma-style fingerpicking on his new EP, Lanterns. The results are very cool, suggesting an alternate reality where loop maestro Dustin Wong worked on acoustic rather than electric guitar. Over four tracks, McGrath adds neat harmonic and percussive elements to his sharp solo playing. But it’s more than a gimmick — the songs here are uniformly strong, especially the oddly named, but quite lovely “Ghosty’s Spinach Song,” which closes out the EP." - Aquarium Drunkard

“his clutch of haunted icy soundscapes sounds very much like wandering around half-remembered wintry dreams.” - Bido Lito!

"a deft masterclass in cyclical finger-picking fused with subtle glitches, warped drones and rapping Autumnal taps." - Peter Guy, Liverpool Echo

"One of the most innovative solo guitarists on the scene right now is John McGrath ... his style can be best summed up as 'glitch blues', utilising seriously warped effects over John Fahey-esque musings." - Deep Hedonia

"like Bert Jansch remixed by Four Tet, combining extraordinary technical mastery with warm drones and harmonic effects." - The Cube