Jack Hayter

Jack Hayter
Jack Hayter Oct 2011 (photo by Maria Suffolk)
Background information
Genres	Folk, Indie, Experimental, Lo-Fi, Country
Occupation(s)	Musician, Poet, Filmmaker
Labels	Audio Antihero, Absolutely Kosher
Associated acts	Hefner, Darren Hayman, Antony Harding, Spongefinger, Dollboy, Benjamin Shaw, John Morrison

Jack Hayter is a British musician. He is best known as a multi instrumentalist with Hefner but is also an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter in his own right. Hayter also played with alt-country band Spongefinger and folktronica band Dollboy. Hayter is also frequently used as a session pedal steel guitar player in the London alternative scene.

Jack Hayter first made a mark in the UK with the Alt.Country group Spongefinger who released two well received albums on Volcano Records/Cargo Distribution. The group were referred to as "Dennis Hopper's House Band" by Organ and NME press. They also served as the backing band on the "Immortal Rich" album by TV Smith (of The Adverts) in 1996. During this time he also contributed to the "Big Stick" EP from Rhatigan.

Despite modest success with Spongefinger, Hayter came into prominence when he joined Hefner full-time in 1999 as a multi-instrumentalist (though he had been playing live with them in 1998), alongside Darren Hayman, Antony Harding and John Morrison. In Hefner, Hayter recorded and released numerous albums, singles and EPs for the Too Pure label. They had several top 75 singles and recorded a number of sessions for John Peel and Steve Lamacq.

Hefner would play all over the world, including sets at festivals like Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, Big Chill Festival, V Festival and headline slots at Festivals like Reading & Leeds. They would also play bills with artists like Sebadoh, Elliott Smith, Flaming Lips, Billy Bragg and Life Without Buildings.