I hadn't spoken to John in many years but he was one of the first friends I made on this forum back when I joined in the late 90s. John was a multi-instrumentalist... I believe piano was his main instrument but he also played steel, banjo, fiddle and more.
John and I bonded over some of the jazzier possibilities of pedal steel. He was from Ontario Canada but lived in Austin for a time. I happened to be passing through Texas in the summer of '98 I think it was, and was able to meet up with John. He alerted me to a gig Jimmy Day was playing in a small club with just a singer/songwriter whose name I can't recall. I was able to hear Jimmy play in that intimate setting and got to speak with him and get his autograph on a record I'd recently purchased. Jimmy was a delight and sadly passed away several months later.
I spent the rest of the night at John's place as we compared steels and our limited knowledge of the instrument at that time.
A look at John's facebook page today shows a huge outpouring of love, and sadness at his passing which seems to have taken many by surprise. The man clearly made a huge impression on anyone who knew him or played with him. Count me among them.
Thanks for the friendship, John. You're playing in the greatest band of them all now, I'm quite sure.
