Born in Miami County, Ohio, John was a middle child drawn to creative pursuits like painting and music. After establishing himself in the restaurant business and starting a family, he returned to the guitar, writing songs in the late hours while everyone else was sleeping. As he polished his songwriting, he found himself drawn back to the music he listened to when he was a kid, riding around with his mom in her work truck in the 1990s: traditional and neotraditional sounds of country.

Soon John teamed up with guitarist Kyle Kilduff, who workshopped the original songs, contributed to arrangements, and helped build a catalog of classic covers by artists like George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, and others to fill out the band’s repertoire.

The band’s lineup was filled out with pedal steel guitarist Brooks Hefner and a rhythm section of Jay Ouypron on bass and Porter Bralley on drums