This past summer John was asked to compose and perform a guitar solo for the song "Timeless Numbers" on the upcoming Darkest Hour album, Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora. Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour guitarist and founding member) approached John with some initial thoughts about the overall vibe of the song and gave him free reign to have fun and be creative with it. Many thanks to Mike and the whole band for providing such a fun and awesome experience!
On Saturday, May 14th 2016, John presented a detailed breakdown of many techniques used in electric guitar playing at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, VA. Over a hundred students received instruction from John throughout the day. This was made possible with the help of Keith Owens (West Springfield High School Guitar Studies Program Director), Rosemary Gano (West Potomac High School Guitar Studies Program Director) and many others. Topics included: left hand posture, left hand string dampening, right hand string dampening, legato, smooth note connection, bending, sweep picking, hybrid picking, harmonics and the CAGED system.
On Saturday, March 21st, John conducted 2 workshops covering rock guitar technique. It was a good turnout at Westfields High School. Many thanks to Ken Hall (Westfields High School Guitar Studies Program Director) and Mike Ward (South County High School Guitar Studies Program Director) for coordinating all of the events and making the workshops possible. John covered a variety of techniques ranging from improving the clarity of the seemingly simple pull off to hybrid and sweep picking. A pdf of the music covered plus an additional 4 pages of bonus content can be accessed by clicking the link below: