The world-famous Third-Street Promenade in Santa Monica is known for two things: Shops and talented unsigned street performers. If you’ve walked the Promenade any time during the last four years, chances are, you have stopped in your tracks and been mesmerized by the soulful voice of one of those amazing street performers, John West only to then be charmed by his charismatic personality between songs.
For the past four years, this Louisiana-native has been doing what he calls the “Humble Hustle”: Performing with just his guitar days on end on The Promenade as a way to “share” his music with the 1000’s of passersby who would never have otherwise heard his music and to sell CDs and tickets to his venue shows.
I myself randomly found John’s music on John’s MySpace page back in the day when MySpace served as the gateway to finding great unsigned artists. I had never heard of John before, but fell in love with his music on the very first note delivered through my computer speakers.
A year later, and while on a trip to LA in 2007, I was at a gathering at the LA Baha’i Center and noticed a handsome, tall smiling guy walk in. I recognized him immediately from a far. This was definitely fate lending a hand in the making of a great friendship as John is not a Baha’i. But he happened to be there that night because he is one of the most open-minded and open-hearted people I have ever met; open to all kinds of experiences and people, so, he goes wherever he is invited.
John gave me a couple of his CDs that night when he found out I was on a trip with none of my own music and we became good friends instantly and remained in close contact despite our distance. When I needed a performer for a youth-empowerment conference I used to plan in DC, it was John who flew out to perform, without hesitation. And for free. All to help a good cause. And when I could not make a decision on whether to move to LA or stay on the east coast, it was John who picked me up in his convertible while I was in LA for another visit and drove me to Malibu on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway–only to let me see where it was that my soul needed to be.
I tell you all of this so you know why I am so absolutely ecstatic and and proud of the announcement John West will be making today. An announcement for which he has been preparing for many years: He has just signed on to Mercury / Island Def Jam record label. You may have heard of some of their artists: Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Bon Jovi, The Killers, just to name a few. So, John will be in good hands and company.
How did this all come about after so many years of the Humble Hustle? John’s manager, Ben Ricciardi, had recently arranged for a showcase for John with Atlantic Records in New York, but it was Island Def Jam that stole John away. John met with Atlantic and several other labels while in NY, each of which had a hard time trying to categorize his sound. “Is John pop, blues or something else?” they asked.
While waiting to hear back from all those other lables, and as his last stop in NY, John met with British-born Dave Massey, the head of the Mercury Records division of Island Def Jam late on a Thursday night. John says about that meeting, “I love British people. They get it. They get that it’s about the music. Dave was the first record executive who got my music immediately-he wasn’t about categorizing my music; he just liked my voice and my songs and came up with a vision for how to proceed. He asked me to come in the next day to meet the rest of the label for what is called a ‘Same Day Signing.'” A Day of Signing is when an artist comes in, showcases his music and is signed the same day. A recent artist who had a Same Day Signing with Mercury /Island Def Jam was Rihanna. Pretty amazing road to be on for John.
Needless to say, John is “excited!” He says giddily, “I couldn’t be more grateful.” When I asked him how things will change moving forward, he was quick to tell me: “Nothing has or will change. I am still the same person I was last week; the same 10-year old kid at heart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting a record label deal is like running for office and winning the bid. Your job only starts with the win. I now have to get into the studio and write great songs.”
John already has a library of 40-50 songs. He will have to go through each and pick the ones he likes and make stylistic changes to fit his evolving sound. He describes his library to date as: “It’s just my voice and my guitar with a soulful sound, because that is who I am.” But recently, John wrote a pop song which will.i.am and Interscope Records loved and used to produce for another artist.
“Writing for another artist opened a whole new creative door for me and gave me an ear for a pop sound.” That experience also gave John the confidence to add a bit of pop into his already urban/soul sound and land somewhere in the middle. He describes his music now as “urban-pop-chill-feel good-love songs.”
John finished our chat by saying, “Now is not the time to rest. My team and I will collaborate together as a family but will have to hustle even harder; the ‘Humble Hustle’ continues.”
You can next find John playing August 28th at the Sunset Strip Music Festival with such acts as The Smashing Pumpkins, Common, Fergie, Slash, and my other good friend, Andy Grammer.
