ABOUT
John was born in a small fishing village off the coast of Portugal named Uoraguwaogo. His father was a simple fisherman. John’s Mother would awaken before Father and make them all fish cakes mixed with a small, bitter fruit called iquiadita. They were very poor, but blessed.
Yet, something was missing from John’s life. Every evening, he would walk down to the sea and look westward out into the blackness, dreaming of something better. One day, while cleaning fish near the ocean, John saw a big trunk that had washed up from the sea.
He opened it and found a guitar, a film projector and an educational filmstrip entitled “ESP: Stop Laughing, It’s Real” inside. He did not fully comprehend what these things would come to mean to him at the time… but he experimented. He played. Lord, he played. He practiced in the day and he practiced in the night, whenever he wasn’t helping mother and father with the chores of course. Mother would always say, “Stop that foolishness… go learn how to fish from Father”. But as John grew into a man, he knew what his purpose in life was… to make this thing we call the “rock music”.
John left Uoraguwaogo with the clothes on his back, his guitar, his film projector and his filmstrip. He scraped together a living by playing music. Barmitzvahs in Tel Aviv. Hindu weddings in Calcutta. Small pubs strewn across Ireland. A line dancing joint in Salina, Kansas. Art openings in Los Angeles. Warehouse parties in London. A small punk club in the Netherlands. Sluggos in Pensacola, Florida. Even the Lion’s Lair in Denver, Colorado. Yes… he played them all.
After wandering this lonely world, he ended up in Colorado and found his musical and spiritual brethren. Together they formed a rugged band of minstrels, a “rock group” devoted to sharing the love and the sorrow inside their hearts with all who would listen.
SUPPORTING LOVE HOPE STRENGTH
John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light performed during Pikes Peak Rocks 2010.
EVENT PARTICIPATION
Pikes Peak Rocks 2010 – performed atop Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, CO in support of Love Hope Strength’s national marrow registry program.