John Power

John Power maintained an active solo path while also claiming membership in two celebrated British groups from the 1980s and 1990s, the La's and Cast. A native of Liverpool, England, where he entered the world in 1967, he was 19 when he teamed with fellow Liverpudlian Lee Mavers to launch what became the La's, a storied U.K. outfit of the decade whose 1990 album sold strongly yet whose reputation rested equally on explosive concerts and the singular quirks of Mavers, whose expansive sonic ambitions never fully materialized on record. By 1992 the sluggish pace of the La's' follow-up project had worn on Power, prompting him to seek an outlet for his own material; he departed Mavers's circle, switched from bass to guitar, and assembled Cast. Though the group never matched the critical standing of Britpop peers such as Oasis and Blur, its direct, forceful rock style resonated widely, allowing the 1995 debut All Change to set a record as Polydor's quickest-selling first album. Cast's next two releases, Mother Nature Calls in 1997 and Magic Hour in 1999, each reached the U.K. Top Ten, yet Beetroot in 2001 proved a sharp commercial failure, leading Power to dissolve the band the following year. His debut solo effort, the introspective acoustic album Happening for Love, arrived in 2003 but drew limited attention, after which he returned to the La's in 2005 when Mavers chose to reassemble the group for festival dates. While still performing with the La's, Power restarted his solo work in 2006 with the hard-stomping folk-rock record Willow She Weeps, issued that autumn and promoted through a U.K. tour.