Rock & Root

Critical comment on John Perrault's recording history: 'Jefferson's Dream': John Perrault has a great passion for history and a wonderful insight into the American experience. These stories and songs reflect an outstanding dedication to that passion. --Bill Staines, 2009 'Rough Cuts': John Perrault is a true country poet....

Blessed with an unwavering ear for melody, and a weathered grace Perrault delivers a collection of vivid, melancholy, gritty, folk/country tales that transcend the genre. A fine, fine album that cuts across all boundaries. --Northeast Performer, April 1999. 'Before You Go': Before You Go is such an immensely beautiful collection of music, that it's hard to break down....

Wounded Knee has a wonderful flair and historical value that is a quintessential folk song. This particular recording includes an absolutely mesmerizing flute part... --William A. Huffman, Jam Music Magazine, March, 1997 'Country Matters': The songs themselves make you listen. The words fit the music, and the package strikes the listener about halfway between the eardrum and the cerebral cortex. You don't dispose of this stuff, you install it like a new appliance. It's something to be lived with.....

Country Matters is flat out the best record to come from the northeast in at least two years. --Benny Green, Face Magazine, February 1-14, 1989. 'Tenants in Common': If they ever elect a poet laureate for the Granite State, I'm voting for John Perrault I know he's a singer. But he sings poems....

There's a moving ballad called 'Sonny's Back' about a man returning from Vietnam who finds his family life shot to hell. The clipped dialogue between Sonny Field and his wife Lucina plays against Perrault's soft painting of their world. The story-song lasts seven and a half minutes. Perrault is in no hurry. --J. Dennis Robinson in the Rockingham Gazette, January 9, 1985 'New Hampshire': The best song on John Perrault's New Hampshire album is 'The Ballad of Louis Wagner,' a nine minute epic of greed, betrayal, and murder that ranges from a Portsmouth fishermen's bar across wintry seas to the Isles of Shoals.....

Poetry is at the heart of Perrault's music, (and) like all good poetry, the album reveals new and deeper meanings and dimension with each play. --Joel Brown in Sweet Potato, March 17, 1982 'Thief in the Night': Thief in the Night (Philo/Fretless): From the easy rolling country music of 'Rolling into Burlington ' to the hard-to-keep still, foot tapping sound of 'Rock and Root' and 'Automobile Blues,' the musician comes alive...and the title song, 'Thief in the Night,' speaks with the poetic richness of Perrault the poet. -Katrina Richardson, Concord Monitor, November 18, 1977 John Perrault served as Portsmouth NH Poet Laureate 2003-2005.