The Story of John Rushton

One of my best friends, John David Rushton, is a great musician. I met him while working a music festival in 2005. Shortly after we parted ways and reunited in 2007 in Tuscaloosa, he started playing in the bars every night. Over those separated years we had both fallen away from our strict religious backgrounds and started on our own paths in life. His path led him to begin creating his own music on his own terms.

I have never asked him but his influences seem to be Jason Mraz, Sting, and anyone with soul. I do not know whom to compare his guitar too, but he also likes to play the Fender Rhodes keyboard similar to The Doors. Rushton is also a great songwriter mostly writing about girls, sometimes love, but mostly girls in general. He was moderately successful around town singing mostly covers during the week. At this point he had a slight pop sound with a strong soulful voice. He started growing tired of playing to empty bars and wanted to explore his options for a chance to play for larger crowds. 

In the fall of 2008 such an opportunity arose. A pilot friend of ours was reassigned to LAX and needed someone to drive his truck to Los Angeles-where his brother lives. So we packed up the truck and headed out west. Thirty six hours later (with a crazy four day stay in Scottsdale, Arizona with some millionaires) we arrived at his brother's place in Santa Monica. I flew back home while he stood on the street corners playing solo for tips. His crowds were gradually growing as he learned the ropes of being a licensed street performer. 

One trick Rushton learned was to bring random instruments for spectators to play alongside him and his guitar. One day a guy from El Salvador picked up the djembe drum for the first time and too John's surprise rocked the drums. Within thirty minutes a crowd began to gather. They began to play together daily and the crowds kept growing. One of Rushton's biggest fans was a homeless man named Cowboy who would be there every night. He found out that he could keep a rhythm on the tambourine and joined the group to complete the sound. This sound was evolving from the more relaxed style from Tuscaloosa to a more edgy, original sound. The crowds grew even more to the point where they had to move the shows to the beach to accommodate everyone. In less than two weeks they made enough money to purchase an RV in which they would all live together on Venice Beach. They called themselves Content Life because they were having the time of their lives living on the streets.

For the sake of brevity i will sum up the next few months. He got pretty popular on the beaches, opportunities knocked, doors opened and contacts were made. I will say that the local ABC news did a piece on the band when they played at their first red carpet event in Hollywood. A man named LaRocca believed in John's music and put a project together which allowed John to move back to Tuscaloosa to put a new band together. And that is the story thus far....To Be Continued