JOHN Smith may be a common name but John Smith, from Devon, is an uncommon musical talent, a folk songwriter and acoustic guitarist who would stay in his room practising for eight hours a day until he left home at 19 to pursue his career.

His musical journey since then has encompassed four albums; support slots with Iron & Wine, Richard Hawley and Ben Howard; a debut headline tour of Australia last month and participation in the prestigious Transatlantic Sessions concerts in January and February with Patty Griffin and Rodney Crowell.

This month, he is undertaking a headline tour in a trio with two Belfast musicians, taking in Yorkshire concerts tonight at The Greystones in Sheffield and tomorrow at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds.

"I remember opening for Iron & Wine at the Howard Assembly Room four years ago," says John. "This weekend's show has sold out and it's the one I'm looking forward to more than any other on the tour; it's just a beautiful venue," he says.

Perfect for his steel-string guitar playing, a skill that grew from an appreciation of the records his father played during family gatherings at their West Country fishing village home, such as Ry Cooder’s late 1970s' work Bop Till You Drop. "That really hit me hard," says John. "Just hearing that really intricate guitar and soulful singing. I just remember not knowing what this thing was, or what it meant, but I knew I wanted more."

His father entrusted the young John with his own guitar, and by the age of 11 he could navigate his way through Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. Those long hours of practice in his bedroom ensued. "As soon as I picked up a guitar, I knew that was it: I was going to be a musician. There are moments of doubt, when you're skint or no-one's listening, but we all go through that," says John. "It's things like sitting there with a guitar working out how to play a song best that are wonderful to do."

His songwriting blossomed, although album number four, 2013's Great Lakes, was preceded by writer’s block so crippling that Smith had considered abandoning writing altogether. "You look in your notebook and you realise you haven't written anything for a year, which was because I'd been solidly touring for two years and hadn't given myself any time," John recalls. "But then, at the back end of 2011, I worked with two songwriters, Joe Henry [the American producer] and Dennis Ellsworth and it was like being held upside down with all these songs tipping out.

"Writer's block is not something to be scared of. It's scary at the time but then you realise that maybe you're not working hard enough." Nevertheless, it helped that one song, Salty And Sweet, came to John in a dream, complete with Irish singer Lisa Hannigan – in whose band he regularly performs – singing the refrain’s harmony. Lisa subsequently shared the recorded vocal credits for this track.

In 2015, John is writing songs once more as he divides his time between Liverpool and Brighton. "I don't want to say too much but they are getting written," he says. "I'm touring until spring and then I'll hide away and put the new songs together. It's me and my guitar and I just find anywhere I can to work on them."

Such is his passion for music. "Music is a language and when you're playing live the ultimate aim is to play 'free conversation'," he says. If that sounds more like jazz, John points out he studied jazz in his student days in Liverpool. "But I got into folk music because that is the medium I connect with the most, though the free-wheeling notion of jazz attracted me too."

John Smith plays The Greystones, Sheffield, tonight, 8pm, mygreystones.co.uk; Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand Theatre, tomorrow, 7.45pm, sold out.