He sang mainly unaccompanied, traditional material at the folk clubs and also played recorder in the 'Knock-Kneed Bumblebee' barn dance band for many years, taking up the Irish flat back bouzouki to play rhythm for the band in the late 1980's.
He also began using the bouzouki to accompany his own singing, eventually joining up with old mate 'Dave Illingworth' to form the duo 'Old Friends'. Throughout the 1990's they played folk venues all over the south-east of England, before calling it a day when John's work commitments increased.
With a widening solo repertoire, which now included contemporary folk songs as well as the more traditional material, John also performed solo at folk clubs during the decade.
JC and JM's paths had crossed a number of times when JM ran the Robin Hood folk club in Sutton. They both independently thought it would be a good idea to play music together and, after a short musical break for JC, they met for a session and surprised themselves by choosing 60's and 70's pop music over other genres. They formed the 'Riotous Brothers' in 2003 and, after 13 years and over 200 gigs, are still going strong (as at 2016!)
As well as 'live' performance, JC also enjoys studio work and recording on his home 'Roland VS-1680' digital workstation, the results of which can be found on a number of CDs produced over the years. Some selected recordings being:
ASH 004 - Old Dog, New Tricks (2000)
ASH 006 - Tales To Tell (2011)
ASH 008 - One Man's Freedom (2014)