As John Walton's family were all avid Bing Crosby fans, Bing was his primary influence, though others (e.g. Perry Como, Mel Tormé, Jack Jones, Roger Whittaker, Val Doonican) played a part in helping him develop his style. His first performances were in university revue, for which he sang, acted, devised sketches and wrote songs. He later continued to hone his song writing skills, while at the same time embarking on a solo singing career. He sang standards, with a few impressions of other artists, in UK clubs and recorded for EMI at their famous Abbey Road studios. Over the years, he has fronted a series of bands: The Square Route; Cruize; Taylor Made; Jive @ Five; November Jazz. In the eighties and nineties, however, crooners weren't packing them in, and John virtually gave up singing to concentrate on his parallel career as lecturer in Drama and Media. In this capacity he wrote several musicals for youth theatre groups, an activity he has returned to in 2008. It wasn't until the turn of the millennium that he was coaxed out of singing retirement by his friend and jazz drummer, Phil Taylor. Since then he has experienced something of an 'Indian summer', finding that today's more eclectic tastes are allowing a greater appreciation of his talents. He maintains that he is appreciated by the young and the old, with a handful of those in between! Recently, he was pleased to receive an award backed by the European Regional Development Fund which allowed him to write and produce eight songs for the UK jazz singer, Anya Thomson. (The resulting album, 'Hardly Ever', is available from CD Baby's jazz section.) John is not in jazz mode on 'Songs On A Shoestring', however. It's more a celebration of various twentieth century pop and show music styles. But, as always, he's taken great care with the lyrics. You don't have to appreciate old-style crooning to enjoy John Walton's work, but it will certainly add to the experience if you do.