Clarksville, TN – He has written over 500 published songs, by 23 different publishers. His songs have been in commercials, TV shows, movies, on records, tapes, and on the radio! Impressed yet? He also has a book being published about song writing! This is John Pearson. He’s also one of the most likable people on the planet.
Now that you know what this gifted songwriter has going on, let’s talk about his story.
For the amount of time John Pearson has lived in Clarksville, he would be considered a newcomer. But man, can this guy network. It’s like we’ve known him for years. John shows up to an open mic, Revel House’s tap the mic, and begins playing a song that he wrote that was on a TV show.
That was my introduction to this man who sat playing an acoustic guitar. He usually plays bass. He had my attention. It was one of those moments where you think, “How is he playing here on a Tuesday?” Then I find out how impressed this guy is with Clarksville’s music scene.
He’s played all over the world, in front of crowds of over 70,000 people. He’s impressed by the community, a short walk from APSU, at our own Revel. It says a lot about this community and the man himself. He found a home and a musical family.
John grew up just outside Hershey, Pennsylvania. He started playing guitar and later, bass, in a gospel band at age 13. By age 14, he played bass on his first record. The band was called The Centurians. John was on bass. His brother was on guitar.
Playing in various bands, gospel, then rock, and country, John played all over Pennsylvania. One day he decided to broaden his musical horizons. He packed up the car and drove across the country to Los Angeles in search of rock stardom and a record deal. The success he found was not small. He did the rock band thing for a while. Playing glam and metal. But it was the country music circuit in the L.A. area that took him to the next level!
He got into a band in the country music scene. By this time, he was writing songs and getting them published. This was his dream coming true.
Nashville was the next logical step. Early 90’s Country music was seeing a big resurgence. John was in Music City, going to every jam, every open mic, and every place he could get his boot in the door.
He ended up getting picked to do a live taping of three songs on Nashville Now, playing bass with Mel McDaniel, the viewership being over 10 million worldwide. And that was the audition! The guitar player from that show, who John met at that taping, Rich Eckhardt, went on to play with Pearson in John Berry’s band. Then, got the gig playing with Toby Keith for 25 years. They now play together in a Garth Brooks tribute.
I had the chance to play with John Pearson at last year’s Artsville Festival on the ‘Ville stage with local favorites The 1980 featuring Garrett Seay and JJ Hankins, actually playing one of John’s original tunes that was featured in the TV show, The Rookie. “Broken Bones” is another one of John’s from-the-heart songs.
In his forthcoming book “Writing young” John talks about the importance of writing songs that sound new and fresh, like writing from the perspective of a young person. Not getting stuck sounding like something old. And always writing from the heart. He’s also one of those real rhythm section bass players. I know this firsthand, having gotten to jam with him. It’s about the groove, he says. “There are so many musicians who can play the notes, and never feel the groove. When you’re in the groove, man…I get goosebumps just thinking about it!”
Another goosebumps moment John talks about is co-writing songs with people. He’s written with so many. Recently writing an album with another local favorite, Jay Ammo. Check out Jay’s latest work, Legacy on all streaming sites.
John Pearson’s book, Writing Young, will be out this fall. Also, look out for Ultimate Garth, a Garth Brooks tribute. His song Holy Water can be heard in an episode of Outer Banks on Netflix. He still turns up at Revel House for Tap the Mic open mic on Tuesdays and hits up as many local shows as he has time for.
If you see John Pearson out, say hi. Because as talented and successful as he is, he’s every bit as cool in person.
James Cargill – ‘Ville: A Rock & Roll Magazine
Villemagazine@gmail.com
