welcome to The Crowd

John Brown

Drums and vocals:

Drums and Vocals: Born July 3, 1958 in Mendota John started hitting the pots and pans at a very early age. His parents bought him his first drum set from a Sears catalog in 1969. By then John had been in the grade school band learning the basics. In seventh grade he formed his first band with long time friend Jim Hawkins. That musical friendship was kept alive when Jim and John formed Hickory Grove with Mark Campbell and Tim Durham all from Mendota. This high school band lasted a few years and Hickory Grove played many local high school dances, homecomings and “special” parties. John also played in the concert high school band under the direction of Bob Baile. “Bob gave me an understanding of music that I have never forgotten to this day.” After high school John studied independent drumming with Ottawa native Bob Norris. Studying with Bob, one of the best-known drummers in the area at that time, was a turning point for John. He met many musicians at that time and played progressive Jazz all summer in 1976 in a farmhouse outside of Ottawa with many local Ottawa musicians. John joined Freeway in 1979 along with Mort and Gail Brooks. Working with the Brooks increased my ability to sing lead and harmony vocals. 

John married his high school sweetheart Kendra in 1980. At that time John also recorded various demos with songwriter and Mendota native Steve Wedeymeyer in a Hoffman Estates recording studio. This was where I learned that “less is more”.  John continued playing music almost every weekend for the next ten years in Bad Breaks, The Jinx Band and 3 Deep. In the early 1990’s Mark Campbell and John joined together again to form The Deep. This band consisted of Ed Derix on Bass and Rod Stedman on Guitar along with Mark and John. In 1998 John again joined with Mark when a revised “Southbound Band” was re-united. 

Throughout all this John and Kendra became parents to a daughter and son, John managed a career in Quality Assurance in manufacturing and has also been an alderman for the city of Mendota since 1997.  

 John still enjoys playing on the weekends. It’s a lot more fun now because it’s all about the music… nothing else.