John is without doubt a world class acoustic guitarist, incorporating a wide range of influences including jazz, blues, Celtic and funk. The press quote One man acid jazz band goes a little way to describe this remarkable musicians ability to combine bass, chords, melody and groove together with apparent ease, thrilling audiences worldwide.
John started playing at the tender age of 6 when he asked his parents for a guitar, which was a surprise to them as they are not musical!. He started learning chords from books and found a fascination in electric guitars as well as a love of rock music. By the age of 13 he was playing in several local bands as he was able to play all the rock classics, including the solos, perfectly. It was also around this time that John found it frustrating that he was unable to read music, so he decided to find a guitar teacher. In Frank Henry, John not only found a teacher but a mentor that would have an immense impact on his musical future. Frank taught him how to read music and understand harmony which was to prove crucial in later years.
By the time John had left school he was already earning a living from music by playing guitar in local function bands, and it was during one of these gigs that he was spotted by an agent who booked shows for Motown acts from the USA touring in Europe. This led to John touring with several of the labels artists over the next few years.
John is now recognised as one of the most revered players on the acoustic circuit undertaking worldwide tours, taking in USA, Asia and Europe as well as collaborating with some of the world’s greatest players, including Tommy Emmanuel, Ike Isaacs and George Benson. In fact George asked John to play a private concert for him and his band after one of their concerts in Scotland. John was also asked recently to play with The Faces at the Royal Albert Hall which he described as ‘a surreal but amazing experience!’