JOHN COMMON sometimes wishes he were a filmmaker or a painter, but due to a run-in with his brother's record collection at an impressionable age, he ended up with a bad case of the rock and an obsession for making music that makes you feel everything all at once. He's always writing songs. They range from raucous and snarly to beautiful and introspective.

He grew up in Pensacola, Florida - hotbed for every strain of rabidly fundamentalist, evangelical Christian sect known to man (action) and a surprisingly vibrant indie music scene (reaction). When he was thirteen, he found his older brother's Epiphone acoustic guitar covered in dust in the back of a closet. A light bulb went on. "Writing songs is pretty much the only thing I've ever stuck with," he says.

As the singer, songwriter and guitarist for RAINVILLE, He built a reputation for writing gritty, honest songs and then playing and singing the hell out of them live. Rainville released two albums to critical acclaim nationally and in Europe, and toured the Southwest from 1999 to 2004.

Along the way he met an incredibly talented group of musicians, writers and friends including Scott Davies (drums, vocals), Kevin Meyer (bass, vocals) and Jed Marrs (keys, vocals). The music they make together integrates smart lyrics with music that can break your heart and send you off thinking for a while. “It’s not so much about trying to do something new in the world’s eyes… we’re just trying to do something that sounds fresh to us, something interesting and meaningful and if we’re lucky, timeless", says Common.

The debut record, named GOOD TO BE BORN is a chronicle of a group of artists and friends experimenting and using the recording process to find a new voice. “The only rule we had was that any obvious choices had to be challenged. And that meant hours and hours of us trying different things, looking for how the puzzle of each song might fit together in new ways”, says Common. “I feel like this record is just the beginning. We all can’t wait to get back into the studio and see what happens next.”

JOHN COMMON has shared the stage with such notable acts as Cowboy Junkies, Camper Van Beethoven, Matthew Sweet, Dolorean, Jim White, The Replacements, DriveBy Truckers, The Old 97s, Trashcan Sinatras, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers, Widespread Panic, Cracker, Rhett Miller, The Gourds, Slobberbone, Jesse Dayton, The Souvenirs and others..

RIYL
Wilco, Grandaddy, Sparklehorse, Radiohead, Sun Kil Moon, Yo La Tengo, Guided By Voices

THE BAND
John Common – vocals, guitars, keys, songs
Scott Davies – drums, vocals
Kevin Meyer – bass, vocals
Jed Marrs – keys, vocals
Various Friends – various things