John started playing at the tender age of four years. By age seven, as Euphonium player in the Inverness Salvation Army he was already travelling round the north of Scotland learning his art as a stand up soloist.

At the age of eighteen John joined the renowned Govan Citadel band of the Salvation Army under the guidance of Bandmaster John Baillie. On leaving Govan in 1988 John moved to Boscombe where he really started to learn his craft under the late Geoff Otter and former principal euphonium Graham Lawrence.

John undertakes solo engagements all round the United Kingdom and is also proud to participate in the Clarence Adoo Band.