John listened to Scottish dance music from an early age and he recalls feeling an excitement when he heard the music- that’s when he knew he wanted to play the accordion.  Like so many of the greats, he was born into a musical family.  His father, Jock, played melodeon and mouthorgan.  Mum, Bessie, who was a champion highland dancer, had also been taught to play the pipes – and a “little bit” of the accordion. 
One day while a young John was rummaging around in the loft, he discovered his mother’s accordion, which had “been up there for years.  John was determined to play it – despite the thing being far too big for him at that time!  Nevertheless, with nun’s help, he did manage to get a tune out of it.  After this John began to teach himself the accordion.
He didn’t start playing “seriously” until he was sixteen years old.  It was four years later that he made his first public appearance – at the age of twenty.  He still “cringes at the memory” of that performance, at the Paisley Highlanders Club in Paisley Town Hall.