Like most folks it was the sound of the instrument that lead John to take up the banjo. It was the early 1960's and the Kingston Trio were on top of the charts. This led to the purchase of an open back banjo and Pete Seeger's instruction book"How To Play The 5 String Banjo." Shortly thereafter, a couple of high school classmates asked John to play in a "Rock" band and the banjo was put aside for an electric guitar.
It was three years later with the band breaking up and John moving to Colorado to attend college that he decided to resume playing the five string banjo. He studied under Dick Weissman from the group "The Journeyman". A few years later he ended up at "Your Father's Mustache" bar playing on stage with the banjo band and that lead to a new four string banjo and studying plectrum banjo with "Buck Kelly."
For the next six years John performed at various pizza parlors, restaurants, ski resorts and other establishments around town and as a soloist and a member of "The Mustache Band" which was a spin off of the old "Your Father's Mustache Banjo Band."
After a 10 year break John resumed playing banjo again in 1989 and has been performing around the Denver Metro area at different venues since.
In 1997 John decided to further his musical knowledge by attending the University of Colorado - Denver. In 2002 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Music with an emphasis in music performance using the plectrum banjo. His performances has taken him to jazz festivals as well as performing in several stage productions including "Spoon River" and "Shanendoah."John also was a member of the cast for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's play "Troilus and Cressida." The play was converted from the "Trojan Wars" to the "Civil War" and called for a banjo player on stage. The roll was not difficult except that his back up banjo players were nationally known - well see below.
John also performs with:
and he is a performer member of The Black Rose Acoustic Society.
See additional photos.
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