6:AM - Johnny Rock

    Johnny is the founder of 6:AM. "I had the idea for the name one morning back in 1999, when I was getting ready for work, (standing)in the shower, complaining about getting up for work every day at SIX AM." Johnny tried a number of instruments including guitar, drums, and violin before he discovered the bass...and that was by per chance. "I was at Dan's birthday party and all of a sudden, someone decided we should write a song. Dan handed me his electric bass and showed me where to put my fingers. By the end of the night, I had band-aids being held on by electrical tape."
     Johnny's music career started as a roadie for Roadside Attraction(www.roadsideattraction.com), where he learned to run and mix a sound board, set up a stage, the "riggors" of the road, the general crap that goes along with being in a band, getting the chance to hang out with DIO's backing band, and even had the chance to sing back up on stage as well as on one of their albums. At the same time Johnny's first band(Question of Balance)was just beginning...later that same line up would become the first incarnation of 6:AM.
     Some of Johnny's favorite bands are KISS, IRON MAIDEN, BON JOVI, MEAT LOAF, Y&T, GREAT WHITE, SCORPIONS, GEORGE STRAIGHT, TIM MCGRAW, & JOHNNY CASH.
     Johnny's biggest influnces are GENE SIMMONS(KISS), STEVE HARRIS(IRON MAIDEN), PHIL KENNEMORE(Y&T), JON BON JOVI..."And always my wife and kids".
     Over the years, Johnny has worked with a multitude of gear and just recently has found a set up that he's extremly happy with. "An IBANEZ soundgear was the first new bass I ever bought, over 10 years ago...and I still play it today" All of Johnny's basses are Ibanez, except for an 8string made by Rouge, and all of his electronics and speakers are made by Behringer. "My primary basses are IBANEZ's ATK300 and Ergodyne600, backed by Behringer's BA810 and BA410 cabs(depending on the show and venue size) and the BASS PRO V-AMP for all those crazy sounds". While the band is not currenlty endorsed by any companys, Johnny tries to keep with the same brands... "I've only used GHS Boomers for as long as I can remember. And all of the equipment in the P.A. and my personal rig is connected with MONSTER CABLES. And as a band we are really getting into the whole BEHRINGER thing." Johnny's newest pride and joy are his 6:AM/Johnny Rock picks from Clayton. "I always thought it would be cool to have my name on something that is directly tied to the band...and now I do. You gotta come to a show and take the chance of grabbing one when I toss them into the crowd."
     Johnny's favorite song to perform has almost always been'WANNA'. "There is just something about the way the crowd has always responded to WANNA... its just a fun song to perform...and one night some chick in the crowd even came up and put a dollar in my pants!... lately I can't stop singing the chours to WHISKEY OR YOU. And that's really cool to me because JD and I wrote the lyrics and it seems pretty catchy!"
    Over the years, Johnny's bass playing and love of being on stage has earned him quite of bit of respect from fellow musicians and fans alike. And he has been nominated several times for BEST BASS PLAYER and BEST BACKING VOCALIST from the BANDS4BANDS orginization.