John Whitcomb
Plays it All
~ by Lee Edgren
Like the lyrics to his song“ Milkyway Honeymoon,” which has a quirky tempo and jazz-inspired chord changes, John Whitcomb has a laid-back style and a personal story that is, even in a town filled with characters, pretty unusual. His guitar sound has been compared to that of Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter, and Ronnie Montrose. And he can play it all— rock, country, honky tonk, rhythm and blues, jazz, and classical music. He’ s now at work on his third CD, which he hopes will come out in January or February, 2017. The as-yet-untitled album features the contributions of some well-known area artists, including Carolyn Dutton, Slats Klug, Dane Clark, Jason Ricci, and Andrea Swift. He’ s recording with Rich Morpurgo at Midwest Audio in Bloomington.
“ It’ s kind of a mixed bag,” he says.“ It harkens back to early jazz and blues, like Cab Calloway and Eubie Blake. It’ s just tunes I’ ve written, some new, some old, things I’ ve wanted to get recorded for quite a while.”
He’ s played on about 20 other albums, including those by Rick Wilson, David( not Dave) Matthews, and Curtis Moore.
By day, for about the past 20 years, he’ s been The Village Painter here in Nashville, Indiana. Before becoming a painter, he led a colorful life as a full-time musician in Indy, California, and Nashville, Tennessee. He’ s played with Jayne
46 Our Brown County Sept./ Oct. 2016
Take me to the stars with you, I love you, you say,“ you too,” I can see both Venus and Mars in a Milkyway Honeymoon Can’ t you see us dancin’, Can’ t you see us laughin’ Can’ t you see us there on the face of the Moon Wouldn’ t it be crazy? You and me my baby shining like a star Satellite built for two … photo by Cindy Steele
Bond and the Pink Martinis, a party cover band, since the mid-90s. And he’ s the worship leader of the St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington.
He won’ t bring it up, and it isn’ t in his publicity materials, but John’ s father was Indiana Governor Edgar Whitcomb and his mother was a runway model. Whitcomb, who died in February, 2016 at the age of 98, was a colorful man who had been captured and tortured by the Japanese during WWII, ultimately escaping to China by swimming all night in