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"My dad didn't speak Spanish when I was
growing up, at least I never heard him speak a word
of Spanish. So I never learned," he said.
"So what do you do when people assume you speak
Spanish?" I asked.
"No hablo Espanol," he said and laughed.
His upbringing is far different from mine. My
father is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, and
spoke Spanish all the time. He encouraged his six
children to speak it and to remember their Mexican
heritage.
As for my music career, it was short-lived.. I
played clarinet in the high-school band, though,
when it conflicted with sports. (John said he
played trumpet all through high school in
Gothenburg.) My senior year in high school, I was
the lead singer in a rock band. We played one gig
-- my high-school graduation party. You know you're
bad when relatives won't applaud.
John's career, on the other hand, really has
taken off. After moving to California (after a
brief stay in Nashville) in the mid 80s, he spent
one year at the Guitar Institute ofTechnology.
After working some odd jobs, he met his future
wife, Anastasia, while working at a record store.
"The first couple of years we were dating, I didn't
even know she could sing," he said.
Now they're the duo Anastasia and John. They
released their second independent CD, "Little Man,"
in December, and they're quickly becoming a name in
folk circles. In fact, the duo was handpicked by
David Crosby to tour as the opening act for his
group CPR when he's not touring with Stephen
Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young.
John has dreams of trading his guitar-tech job
for that of a touring musician. Right now, though,
he's focused on his tech duties. He has plenty of
experience, having toured with Crosby and Nash, and
Gloria Estefan, too.
"My job as a guitar tech is to make sure when
the artist walks in, all they have to think about
is the music," John said. "They don't have to worry
about tuning or plugging in or anything."
And what's Crosby like?
"He's pretty low-maintenance," John said. "As
long as the guitar is in tune and it works, he's
pretty happy."
Sitting there, I was amazed at how two people
can be so different and still share some
similarities. Isn't that life?
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