You will find unconventional life experiences, obvious and subtle influences, and an ever-present switching of “hats” – all deftly combined and willfully contrasted within a deceptively simple rock architecture. His formal classical training occasionally pokes through, as does his professional experience with jazz and world music. John will carry the heavy rock to you ... and all you need to do is dig on it.
John’s single “Carolina California” spent 18 weeks on the Mediabase Top 40 Chart (US Radio), eventually climbing to #38, and was the highest-ranked independent (unsigned) artist on the chart, During that time, the song was the highest-ranked rock song among a strong field of pop, rap, and country artists. His next single "Daisy Chains" climbed to #35 on the same chart and earned him "#1 Independent Artist" on US Top 40 Radio.
John started early with piano lessons only to (regretfully) quit and dabble in cello while teaching himself to play guitar, while a four-track cassette-based machine started him on the production process. While studying music in college, NEA Jazz Master David Liebman recruited John to record a big band album. This relationship led to John engineering various albums with other NEA Jazz Masters including Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Cobb, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, and Billy Hart. In 2002 the Dave Liebman album Beyond the Line was Grammy-nominated in the “Best Instrumental Arrangement” category.
As an unlikely full-time college professor, John has taught within premier music recording programs at MTSU, University of Colorado, and Ball State University, and founded a successful program at Purdue University. Throughout this time, John also wrote, recorded, and performed his own music. In 2021 John left university teaching, in order to devote all of his energy to his own music …
A slow and steady rise has led to Television performances, and multiple tours of the US and UK, and a collaboration with Indian bansuri artist Deepak Ram.
