Growing up in the 1960's in a musical household with six siblings, John'searly influences were established by listening to his two sisters play piano, his brother play folk guitar and another brother sing in a soul band. A pivotal year came just after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 that influenced John (like many others) to take up guitar at the age of 10. By 1968, John was playing in his first band, "The Ties That Bind" (aptly named by his brother Terry 'cause it sounded cool).

During his teenage years, John started to grow his rock & roll by legs by playing for Akron area high school dances in a band he co-founded called "Iron Horse". While in college at The Univeristy of Akron, John collaborated with respected friends in a short-lived popular bar band called "Stride" (circa 1975). Upon graduating from college in 1979, John joined up with an area rock band "Ocean" playing the Agora nightclubs and other college rock/dance venues. In 1980, John co-founded a club band, "Full House", with other disenchanted rock & roll musicians wanting to play more of the dance venues (yep, funk and soul were always at heart).

Growing tired of the local music scene, John landed a position with a national touring band "California" and left Ohio to travel on the road during 1981. This is where John got busy honing his rhythm section chops with an 8 piece horn band. In December of that year, John received a phone call from Craig DeBock of LaFlavour, asking if he would be interested in joining the band (upon recommendation of former guitarist, Rusty Bretz). After that phone call, John auditioned and immediately joined LaFlavour. John toured, played and recorded with LaFlavour until January of 1988 when he made the decision to pursue a career in the sales and marketing field of the professional audio and music manufacturing industry. Since then, John has held key marketing management positions with many audio & electronics companies.

Now, reunited with LaFlavour in 2005, John has closed the loop and come full circle with his good friends and bandmates. Hearing the band live, you will notice John plays numerous styles from many guitar influences. One of his strong suits is his ability to lay down funk and rhythm grooves. His tone and styling come very close to many of the original artists covered.

GUITAR INFLUENCES 1) Phil Keaggy (the best player bar-none, he made me want a Les Paul & Twin Reverb) 2) Joe Walsh (made me want tone, sustain & tube distortion) 3) Carlos Santana (made me want to make the guitar cry & sing) 4) Terry Kath (late guitar hero who melded rock, funk & jazz with soul - made me want it all)

CURRENT LIVE GEAR Amplifiers: Vintage 1974 Mesa Boogie MKI head with Carvin vintage tweed 2X12 bottom Vintage 1971 Mesa Boogie MKI combo 1X12 Roland Cube 30, new re-issue with modeling

Guitars: Fender Stratocaster, vintage 1969 Fender Telecaster, 2002 50th anniversary special Gibson Les Paul Standard, 1958 heritage reissue

Pedal / Effects: Fulltone Fulldrive II Fulltone Fatboost Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler Voodoo Labs Pedal Power II (power supply) Vintage Electro-Harmonix Golden Throat Talk Box, Custom Bob Heil Talkbox (the ORIGINAL!), Heil custom microphones. www.heilsound.com

New John Casey photos courtesy of ROSE MARIE COSTANZO FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHY.

Craig       Pete         Gino         Vince         Steve         Rick