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John began playing guitar in the early 1960's bending and
sliding around the neck of his guitar like few can do. An early
and brilliant rock n' roll student of blues techniques, John became a
master of slide guitar and fiery single string soloing. John plugged
his '65 SGand his '57 Strat into every kind of amplifier, from the
tiny, profoundly thick sounding gibson GA-5, to the bright, clear
Fender Twin Reverb, to the largest of Marshall stacks, In search of of
the widest pallet of guitar tone. John borrowed tiny 1940 and
50's amps from his uncles,
purchased Marshall 200 watt amps from (ream producer Felix Papillardi
of Mountain, and searched guitar stores
and pawn shops for the unusual in electric guitars and amplifiers.
As a result, the guitar penormances you'll hear on all John's blues
(D's are broad and colonul, reflecting a lifetime of guitar and
amplifier expertise.
In the late 60's local heroes, Pinto
Beans mastered blues, rock & roll and the fundamentals of what became
country rock. In a band called Butch, John advanced the agenda
adding lap steel, pedal steel and piano to his set of performance
instruments as well as his own original songs. He also backed up
gold record groups like the Crystals and performed with Chubby Checker
(The Twist) and many other pop icons. In 1977, John moved to Los
Angeles. He worked with many musicians and songwriters, like Mike
Frenchik, composer of Lionel Richie's
"Dancing On The Ceiling." John had a long-time position at the world
famous Troubadour Night Club. There John rubbed elbows with everyone
from members of the Byrds to Van Halen. In Los Angeles, John
often performed with the insightful composer Tim Hardin, ("If I Were A
Carpenter", "Reason To Believe") and the
Lovin' Spoonful's tremendously successful John Sebastian.
John
really sharpened his songwritting skills working with these icons of
American music and being a member of the Los Angeles Songwriter
Showcase. John also co-founded the popular Los Angeles-based
band the Donner Party, produced by Paul Sabu for Sabu Productions.
Paul produced such notable acts as Linsey Buckingham, Kim Carns,
Madonna, Sheena Easton, David Bowie and Precious Metal. John also
perfomed with this band at all the popular Los Angeles clubs such as
the Whiskey A Go Go, Troubadour, The Central (Viper Room) Madame Wongs
to name a few.
John
returned to his roots in Pittsburgh in 1991 performing with Big Daddy
and Vintage Buzz. Check out all John's Cd's on CDBABY.COM, iTunes,
Rhapsody, Amazon, Napster, Walmart and most places songs can be
downloaded. |
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