With this post, I am starting down a trail of very influential bands in my life.  Most of these bands over the next few blogs will have more to do with my formation as a songwriter than any mainstream bands.  So let me begin by talking about Johnny Q. Public.

Johnny Q. Public formed around 1994, and released “Extra Ordinary,” their first album, on Gotee Records in 1995.  The members of the band ranged in age from 14 to 23.  They were basically my age, and were melting people’s faces off at every show.  I was still trying to figure out how to play an open G chord on my guitar.

Eventually, their music video for the song “Body Be” would get picked up by MTV, and would lead to three years of touring supporting acts like Bleach and Skillet.

In 1998, the band would go through some lineup changes as Oran Thornton would go on to join his brother Trevor in Flick.

In 2000, Johnny Q. released their second album “Welcome to Earth” on Gotee and Roadrunner Records, but eventually called it quits in 2001.

Johnny Q. Public was one of the first modern rocks bands that I really got into.  They were loud, known from their wild live shows, and had a great batch of songs.  More than anything, their successes really inspired a number of artists in Springfield and would lead a new wave of great Springfield bands.