John John Festival - Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not is the third studio album by Japanese folk pop band John John Festival, released in November 2016.

John John Festival is a three piece Japanese folk pop band formed in 2010. The band members are John (Mana Okubo) on fiddle and vocals, Annie (Hirofumi Nakamura) on guitars and vocals, and ToshiBodhran on bodhran and percussion.

The band fuse Irish and Scottish traditional folk music with Japanese influences and culture, creating a unique mix of Western and Japanese folk pop music.

John John Festival is fast becoming one of the most popular Irish bands in Japan. With rhythm, melody and emotion in a genuine groove, their mutual ease and happiness makes the audience happy too. “Make us and them happy” is their musical mind set.

They pour their emotions into performing their music which is very infectious with many audience members on their recent Australian tour (2017-2018), unable to keep their feet still, finding themselves up and dancing along to their music.

This is another beautiful album from this unique Japanese band, showcasing their individual talents as musicians and as a collective as a band, which is unique both live and on record.

The guest musicians on the album are:

• 須貝知世 : flute, whistle (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
• 野口明生 : uilleann pipes, flute (tracks 2, 5, 7, 9)
• 田嶋ともすけ : drums, percussion (tracks 2, 3, 5)

Check out the tracks:   “Sweet Forget-Me-Not”; “Perth Jigs”; “By The Time It Gets Dark”; and “January Fifteenth”.

This album is on compact disc housed in a cardboard gatefold sleeve, pressed in Japan.