Can you imagine growing up in a record store located in a city known for music? What a way to start for John Reno! John’s father owned a record store on Canal Street in New Orleans and so naturally, there was music going all the time. Citing Al Hirt and Jim Croce as major musical influences, John took up the guitar at age 14 and the rest is Trop Rock history, no? Actually, there was an accounting degree and job that got in his musical way, but it didn’t take long for John to get back on the musical track.
John began playing college bars in the early 1990s and realized he was getting a large amount of requests for Jimmy Buffett’s music. Seeing promise in this, he out together the first national Jimmy Buffett tribute show, called “Pirates, Parrots and Margaritas,” in 1992 and covered the college circuit.
John eventually moved to Fairhope, Alabama and took over a Brent Burns house musician gig. Then Jerry Diaz gave him fifteen minutes on the stage several years ago at Meeting of the Minds. Result? His Trop Rock career began to take off. John’s music contains many nautical references, as he lives very close to Mobile Bay. He believes in “joie de vivre”… living life to the fullest. Shouldn’t we all?