| Jamming
Since |
 |
1995 |
| Jamming
Since |
|
1995 |
| John Farmer The year was ... 1971 Salt Lake City, Utah. John has had a passion for music ever since he was a young boy playing on his parents piano. His grandfather told his parents to get him into lessons to excel his talent, but at age 7 John wasn't ready for that. "I still kick myself for being such a little ass, I wonder sometimes how far I would be today if I would have stuck with it." FIRST BAND... He started a band right out of High School called “Crack’d Symbowl”. They played hard rock and blues. After 2 years the members went thier different ways staying friends.
CRAZY YEARS... Over the years John has met, become friends with and jammed with many incredible musicians. Dave Mathews, Carlos Santana, Tim Wray of Fat Paw, Harry Lee of the Harry Lee and Back Alley Blues Band. Dan Walker from the Tempo Timers and Ides of Soul, Christian Pardee of the Fender Benders, Mike Ricks of the Tempo Timers, Zach Parrish of the Zach Parrish band among other great bands like Stonefed, Disco Drippers, The Obvious and countless more. DEAD GOAT YEARS... John continued playing drums and began to play The Blue Devils Blues Revue open mic. at the Dead Goat Saloon. This is where he got a true schooling about soul. When John started playing at the Dead Goat Saloon he recalls “I would have to be totally trashed to get on stage I was so nervous”. John met a drummer named Fred Marcin. “He has to be Buddy Rich reborn (of course Buddy Rich was still alive when Fred watched him). I’ve never seen anyone play like him!” John and Fred became good friends and Fred took John under his wing for drums. One day, Fred came up to John after playing and said “John, you have a choice, either keep drinking and quit playing or keep playing and quit drinking, but you can’t do both” “I knew where my heart was in this life, I had to quit drinking and pull my life together.” So John went underground for about 6 months recouping and starting over from scratch with his music... He came back to play and blew the socks off everyone who doubted him. On Johns Birthday in 1996 his parents bought him a Fender acoustic guitar. After watching all his friends playing guitar wanting to learn something new, John focused on playing the guitar. He began to pick up that instrument and within a year he had 10 songs ready to turn into an album. In 1998 John's very first album came out called "Dancing Stick". "I came up with the name after meeting Dave Mathews at the Dead Goat a day before his show, I wasn't working as the bouncer that night and asked if I could sit with him, he said sure". I loved his design of the Fire Dancer so much, so I asked "Can I rip off your design and make a slight design change?" He laughed and then said "Sure, I don't have a problem with that." I have to admit I was ashamed I didn't know he was in town and I told him that. His tour manager said "Well, give me your name and I'll get you some passes." I lit up like a rocket and paid for the rest of the beers. He is an amazing person. Dave Mathews taught me one thing in this crazy world of music. Just keep it real, be yourself, and never lose sight on what you love. We are only human. "Here's this guy, a complete mega-star, and he's the most grounded person I've ever met. he didn't have one conceted bone in his body. I was truly impressed and I hope my music reflects that. I grabbed my Dead Goat Shirt and he signed it. I still have it to this day." John's continued love for music has also increased his insturment collection, from a grand piano to a mandolin, from harmonica to electric violin, bass guitar to djembe drums, his growing collection of guitars to a eggplant harp. Let's not forget his drumkit too. COMING UP WITH A NAME... John was in the process of coming up with a name for his band when while on the phone looking out the window at the Wasatch mountain's "Mount Olympus" a thick cloud moved infront of the sun and created such an amazing shadow that the sky became a deep blue and the rays from the sun streaked across the sky from behind the cloud. He said "That's the coolest looking Sun Cloud I've ever seen!" Within a matter of seconds he came to the conclusion that "Sun Cloud" would be the name of his band. List of all the Past Members 1. Christian Guitar 1997-1998 ONE LAST QUESTION... The one last question everyone seems to ask is: "What's the deal with your name man?" There's a long and a short story to this song. The short version is... as kitty litter goes. I just get shit on all the time... BUT... The long story, and true story is... "A good friend of mine and I worked at a computer company back in the 90's his name was Warren and moved here from Baltimore MD. If you were cool, you were a "cat". Just like the lingo "cool cat". Well, it was slow at work and we made a bet, we were young and had no idea back then about sexual harrassment, but we placed a bet on who could get the most telephone numbers by the end of the shift. By 1:30 in the afternoon I had 9 numbers and he had 9 numbers. We had to have a tie breaker, so we picked out a person for each other. He picked for me a older Mormon woman that had 9 kids and happily married... And I, picked for him a very angry (and extremely overweight 400+) overworked woman. So, I walked up to "Mrs. Smith" and sat down and asked her..."Uhhhh, how are you today? I was just wondering... Oh hell, you know what... here's the deal, I'm betting Warren over there who can get the most numbers, can you play along, I don't care if it's fake...?" luckily, she had a good sense of humor and gave me a number... we laughed and I walked up to Warren with a smile and said "BAM". He looked at me and said "Mmmmm Johnny Cat... Look out". At that point, I said "Shit, I like that man, I'm going to keep that!" Then it was his turn, he walked up to "Ms. Angry" and he got 3 words out and she said "Get the hell out of here!" I WON! And ever since then. I've been known as Johnny Cat. Personally, the shorter version is easier to explain. Live, Love, Life! Keep the Groove On Baby!!! |