6 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017 Colin BIG ISLAND ENTERTAINMENT SCENE | WEST HAWAII TODAY MULTIFACETED, INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED You could call Colin John a blues guitarist, but you would just be scratching the surface of this multifaceted, internationally recognized musician who calls Kona home. John got his start in music as a kid playing trumpet, until he punctured his eardrum. That’s when his band teacher at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, talked him into playing the double bass fiddle, the only instrument available at the time. From there he moved to the electric bass, but really wanted to play guitar. John got a Harmony Stella acoustic and was hooked. After graduating from Ohio University with majors in art history and interpersonal communications, he knew he wanted to play music professionally. His influence came from English rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and, of course, the timeless Jimi Hendrix. John headed to Chicago to hear the blues. “I would read the album liner notes and research the writers of the music, going to the root source to find out where you came from,” he said. “It’s the basis of what I do.” John moved to England in 1992, immersing himself in the music scene and lived there for 10 years. Then, in 2002, John opened for John Mayo at the then-Kona Surf Hotel. “I met so many great people on that first trip I started coming regularly” he said. John decided to move to Kona in 2006, splitting his time between West Hawaii and Columbus, Ohio, his mainland base when not touring. BY LAURA RUMINSKI WEST HAWAII lruminski@westhawaiitoday.Moving to Kona felt like coming home to John. The spirit of aloha and is what drew him to West “I’ve made friends from world here,” he said. “The music draws people together positive way, and I’m all He fell in love with Hawaiian and learned slack key and infusing into his blues style. “Hawaiian music and the similar.” he said. “It’s the Then, in 2014, John toured India, Kathmandu and Nepal.inspired yet another layer When asked to describe defines it as a fusion of blues,and Indian. Although he solo, he does play with others “I love to work with other see what I can lend to their Dagan Bernstein, a contemporary country artist from Waimea,”With nine solo albums project is a collaboration “Long Tall Deb.” The pair shows for B.B. King and played to standing ovations club and festival audiences across the United States,John likes to play “any people come to listen to becomes an interplay of energy.” “My favorite is house party a fun thing to do. The music together and any place where the music is OK with me,”
bie
To see the actual publication please follow the link above