Bass guitarist John Downing is a major asset and compliment to any group. His 25+ years of 80’s rock and Carolina Beach Music has given him the experience necessary to keep his music in the groove. According to him, it has been more of an ambition than a chore.

With such influences as Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Chicago, Toto and Billy Joel, what can you expect from a bass guitarist like John Downing? His mere beginnings commenced when he enjoyed listening to other artists such as Michael Anthony of Van Halen and Getty Lee from Rush. During high school, John was exposed to Carolina Beach Music and was hooked for life!

While in high school, he was in a band in talent shows that had to back up some others acts with songs like, “Rainy Day Bells”, “Up on the Roof”, and “Myrtle Beach Days”. Although he still loves the 80’s rock, he started listing to bands like the Embers, the Band of Oz and the Catalinas. He feels a lot of his style of playing is a direct mixture of those great rock and roll artists and people like Big John Thompson from the Band of Oz and Jerry Davis from the Legends of Beach (Embers).

One day he discovered a bass guitar and stuck with it ever since. Stage presence is important to any musician and John certainly captures this. From a smooth-walking bass line to a punctuated attention-getting high kicker, John pushes the envelope to see he meets and exceeds expectations, not only from the band but the dancers/listeners as well.

His words of advice…”on stage, what you see is what you get…I love to perform on stage and always want to be the best I can be”! This is why he is referred to as “Mr. Personality”! Great bassists come along only once in a while…John came along at the right time and truly adds a tremendous display from his dedicated efforts.