John's banding started when he was 10 as a junior band member in the Salvation Army (SA) playing horn and he went on to play Solo Horn with many SA bands over the years. He also held the Horn chair within the Kevin Ashman sextet as well.
Like so many SA players John eventually moved into the contesting world playing for Yorkley Onward, Flowers (now Polysteel) and Desford.
As well as playing brass, John is an accomplished pianist who has always had a great interest in conducting . He conducted his first SA Band when he was 18 and was a Bandleader for a number of years. In the non-SA world John also worked as Bandmaster whilst at Yorkley and conducted Freckleton just prior to moving overseas.
The move overseas brought an 8 year gap in John's banding but upon his return to the UK he came out of retirement to play Solo Horn for Eccleston where again he frequently took up the baton, was a frequent guest for the Leyland Band before briefly playing Solo Horn for Longridge Band.
John is delighted to now be part of the Lostock Hall Memorial Band.