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"My name is John Maslan - actually John E. Maslan and the "E" is for Edward. I was born at North Western Hospital in the heart of Chicago. My parents brought me home to the one house I lived in through all my formative years. That house is about 35 minutes West of the city of Chicago in Downers Grove, Illinois. But even when I was living in that house I thought of myself as a Chicagoan, not a Downers Grove-ian. And as fate would have it, I can now accurately say that I am an actual Chicagoan because that's where I live and have for many years. I'm Right by Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs and right on the lake, Michigan, that is.

It was at the age of 5 that I discovered ELVIS. A commercial came on the TV for "Elvis' Greatest Hits" and I made my Mom order it for me. The day it arrived I took all the cushions off the couches in the family room and put them in a big pile and went crazy, running around and jumping into the pile with Elvis cranked. The music made me crazy, like a drug, like power surging through my blood, and I was hooked. That was it - rock-n-roll had changed me. At that young age I knew I had found something extraordinary. At 5 years of age I knew I wanted to play music and nothing else ever really called to me the same way.

A few years later I took up the guitar at the age of 9. Without doing the math, I've been playing guitar basically all my life. After high school I went to Hollywood, California and studied guitar at a music school called Musicians Institute.

Over the years I've done quite a bit of song writing and played in two rather serious bands. I've played many clubs around Chicago from Cubby Bear to Double Door to Metro and have been featured on showcases for radio stations WXRT and Q101. I've also been interviewed extensively on WLS radio and I have appeared on the morning television show on Super Station WGN Channel 9 in Chicago.

I'm working on songs rooted in 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitar with melodic piano lines, sweeping string beds, orchestrial instruments, soaring vocal lines with undeniable hooks, and all laid on top of a bed of powerful tribal, ethnic, and traditional percussion instruments.

My influences - I seem to be mostly influenced by whom I consider the greats. These would be The Beatles, U2, The Cure, even Sinatra and Dean Martin, Mozart and his ilk, - and of course Elvis!! Recently I find myself listening to more and more female singers. I love Norah Jones, Carole King, and Stevie Nicks. In general I just love popular music. Not always the message or world view, but I love the music.

I'll be releasing music on a regular basis [please go to the "Club 25" page for release information] and playing shows all around Chicago, Nashville, and the mid-west - touring and recording. It's an exciting time in my life and my career. I hope you get on the mailing list and become a part of it."

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