John

John Allen

My musical upbringing and career is fairly “standard”. I was exposed at an early age by my parents to classical music, opera, jazz, theatre, Gregorian/Buddhist chants, mantras, etc. Piano training began at age eight – formal trumpet training followed soon after. I continued playing trumpet throughout my high school years and participated in marching band, concert band, and jazz band. My college years conspired to interrupt my serious participation within any music scene – but I did manage to be introduced to an acoustic guitar by a fellow dorm resident. (Dorm building stairwells provide a natural acoustic reverb for guitar and voice that is awesome!)

By some miracle, I managed to graduate from college with a Bachelor of Science degree and landed gainful employment in Indianapolis . Soon after getting settled, my interest in participating in the Indy music scene began to grow, but I was not confident in how to go about it. Out of the blue, an old high school friend who was living in Peru , IN called to say he was putting together a hard rock band and asked if I would be interested in playing bass guitar. Not having a bass guitar or having ever played one did not seem to be enough reason to say “No”. So I bought a bass, and started periodic commutes to Peru for rehearsals and performances with a band named “Wrath”. So began a rather disjointed but very fun odyssey as a “weekend warrior”.

I have performed with the following Indy area bands over the years:

Bass Guitar:

Wrath, Elephant Men, The Conniptions, Random Access, Hidden Agenda

Electric Guitar and Keyboards:

Split Image, Tazz

Electric Guitar:

Manifesto, LemonWheel

The Elephant Men and The Conniptions bands were both original material projects – thanks in large part to a very talented and prolific lyricist and arranger. Most other bands were formulated as traditional cover bands playing various genre’s of music – with a special acknowledgement to the large 10-piece horn band monstrosity that was Manifesto. (The actual name was “Manifesto – Featuring the Horns of Destructive Mass”) Following Manifesto, I did not participate in any music project for about three years. Out of the blue, an old music friend called to ask if I would be interested in auditioning on guitar for a band named LemonWheel. Not having played guitar for three years did not seem to be enough reason to say “No”. (Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it?) So I auditioned and was fortunate enough to land the gig despite my pedestrian chops. I have been with various lineup incarnations of LemonWheel ever since late 2005. Besides having a blast in LemonWheel, I have also participated in many original studio projects that serve to fill out the balance of time I reserve for music. The current LemonWheel lineup rocks and I look forward to this relationship bringing great joy to my life for the foreseeable future.

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twiddly dinks....