“Who Shot John?” to play at Garth Newel in Bath
“Who shot John?” is an old moonshiner’s code word for their whiskey. It also came to mean sort of a tall tale, or misleading story with its own little elements of craft and authenticity. So, when John Douglas was reminded of this through a couple of old movies, he named the band in which he plays rhythm guitar and sings, “Who Shot John?” When the band comes to play on Saturday, March 19th at Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs they’ll deliver a show unlike most of the regular ones, but will likely be a great time for all.
John Douglas was modest when talking about his band, their music and their first visit to this Hot Springs venue.
“I’m very lucky with these guys as I get to kind of shroud some of my shortcomings with some guys that are absolutely very, very talented. We have a really good time putting things together.”
Next, John introduced us to his fellow band members.
“My bass player, and sometimes we will break down in set, and do some acoustic things, and even out in public when we do acoustic duos, he will play guitar with me, so he’s a bassist, and kind of a back-up lead man- Tyler Burch, and he’s been with me probably five or six years now since we put everything together. He’s been with me almost as long as anybody. And next up would be, also Tyler, Tyler Limbrick, and he is the drummer, and the lead guitar, a fellow whose been with us about eight months or so, is Chris Howerton.
I had read this band does a great job at covering some classic musicians, so I asked John what the music would be like on Saturday night. He explained, in honor of the American Made series, they’ll be offering as much of their original work as possible.
“Well, by nature I think I run along the lines of being a singer songwriter. The music that we do is kind of a hybrid, and with the full band kind of wrapped around that, it turns into kind of a soul infused rock and blues type of thing.
My influence definitely comes from a classic rock and roll, blues and soul type of background. I love that type of music, and I listen to it every chance I get.”
Before he settled around Harrisonburg with his wife and children, John had a traditional, somewhat restricted mid-western upbringing. He didn’t have any pop stations exposure.
John Douglas,
“I grew up on the Oldies station. I grew up listening to Ray Charles and Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, and Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, these types of guys, and I thought they were all very current. I had no idea. I thought Ray Charles was still, you know, top of the game, you know, and I’d missed him by a couple of decades. (Laughs)
The whole band is excited to come to Garth Newel on Saturday. Door will open at 7:00, and the concert begins at 7:30. Tickets are thirty-five dollars in advance and forty dollars if you by them on the day of the show. They can be purchased by phone at 839-5018, online at GarthNewel.org . Welcome! “Who Shot John?”
“Coming up after us on May 21st is Lao Tizer, and his quartet featuring Karen Briggs, and Karen Briggs is just such a virtuoso Violinist. And Chatham County Line, they just played right before us; it’s the best of company.”
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