john akers
Utility Player, Camp Guy, Adult Band Coach
What is your favorite part of coaching at ROC Star Academy?
1. Seeing the growth from year-to-year. 2. Watching how creative young musicians can be in seeing songs in new ways. 3. Challenging them to get better.
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Hometown: Kansas City
Your musical focus/instruments you play:
Songwriting (finishing an album this summer!), dynamics, performance. Instruments: drums, vocals, piano, guitar, and a little of anything else needed for live performances or recording sessions. If I don’t know how to do it, I make it up!
What is your musical background?
Before I was ten, I remember listening to the entire "Woodstock" album on my dad's
8-track player and pretending I was in every band. It was awesome. I was taught to play the drums in school but have made everything else up on my own since. I tried to take piano once after I had taught myself a little. The teacher listened to me play for a few minutes and simply said, “I can't fix that.” So I left. That explains a lot, I think.
What are your musical influences/favorite bands?
Ella, Sam Cooke, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, CSN, Sly & The Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Paul Desmond, Randy Newman, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Rush, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Psychedelic Furs, U2, Jane's Addiction, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett…
What one album would you choose if you were stranded on a deserted island?
It would have to be the "Woodstock" soundtrack so I could have a little of everything!
What is your favorite venue or event that you’ve performed?
The Fairport Music Festival—what an event and what a crowd! Too much fun.
What’s the craziest thing that ever happened to you onstage?
I must plead the fifth here. Sufficeth to say, I've broken a number of bones and am incredibly lucky that my wife hasn't left me ... yet.
What’s the best piece of musical advice you’ve received in your career thus far?
Be open to the advice of musicians you respect, but trust your own musical instincts above all else.
