name: john ziegler
a.k.a. john z, johnZguitar
location: glendale, ca u.s.a. earth
occupation: music / guitar / educator

i was born in philadelphia, pa and raised on the east coast, then moved to houston, tx at the age of 17. to take up the slack of not being involved in organized sports any longer after high school, i started playing guitar while in college. after a very short period of time, i found out that there was a hint of ability at actually making some half-way decent noise with the guitar.... so an all out effort was put forth towards the good old six strings and learning much more about music in general.

so after college, i spent many years slugging it out in the clubs and roadhouses throughout texas and the surrounding areas of the south. while still based in houston, teaching had become a large part of my life, especially sharing my own mental/spiritual growth during this time with others. not only as a musician, but as someone who loves to observe their surroundings, communicate, and be able to get the point across under most any circustance. by now, this credo has carried over into my own musical journey and playing style....taking it all in and adapting to any situation! i became all about striving towards the "eclectic", where music truly becomes the universal language.

in may of '96 a move to california was actualized and i ended up in los angeles, where over the years i've encountered many "different" and wonderful musical situation. through these circumstances, i've befriended many fantastic and interesting folks within the musical community....

hence the allocation of guitar position in groups such as pigmy love circus and the formation of VOLTO! whereas in particular, i met drummer danny carey back around '01 and was delighted to find out that someone else had many similar thoughts on music and how it should be communicated and presented. we had each found an artistic "foil" if you will! so in december of '02 i was enlisted into the pigmys, and by october of '03 VOLTO! was formed.

then in april '05 i scored a monday night residency at the famous baked potato jazz club here in LA. with my jamming cohorts, first dubbed the hubcap corral, then simply becoming the "jamz". which has turned out to be an outlet for some mighty fine musical mischief and mayhem.... oldschool style indeed! the baked potato has also allowed myself and other musician friends to "experiment" putting together other projects here and there, such as Bubbatron. all in great spirits and good fun, where some very cool sounds have been going down!

besides all the fortunate performing situations, as of '04 i'd decided to get back into teaching privately, both guitar and bass lessons. which has always been a very fruitful and worthwhile pursuit and passion for both myself and (hopefully)the individuals that decide to study with me.

the immediate musical plans for the future, besides playing live shows, also include recording and releasing material from the projects that i'm currently involved with and helping out other artists with production work, writing, recording, and performing. *the journey along the path is indeed much more important than the destination fulfilled!*

thanx and cheers, jam on!

John Z