John Altenburgh
| John Altenburgh | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born |
April 20, 1960 Wausau, Wisconsin, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer, record label owner |
| Instruments | Piano, guitar |
| Labels | Altenburgh Records, The Orchard/Sony Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Johnny & The MoTones |
| Website | altenburgh |
John Altenburgh (born John Altenburg, April 20, 1960, Wausau, Wisconsin, United States) is an American jazz and blues pianist, composer, arranger and producer who has made his home in Mosinee, Wisconsin. Altenburgh studied music at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. He is the founder of Altenburgh Records distributed by The Orchard a division of Sony Entertainment and has recorded numerous albums as a solo artist and with his blues group, Johnny & The MoTones.
Altenburgh started playing rock music as a teenager in the late 1970s to early 1980s, most notably with the Wisconsin rock band, Bad Habit. During this time, he had an opportunity to sign with Geffen Records, a record label that had just signed John Lennon for his comeback. Altenburgh was writing and recording in the style of the New Wave Rock sound that was just gaining popularity at that time. After sending Geffen a demo of recent songs he had recorded, the A&R Director at Geffen asked Altenburgh for more music. As Altenburgh stated, "I took the next six months writing new material. What I didn't realize, at that time, is they wanted more music immediately, not in six months. When I contacted them with my new recordings, they said I was too late, that that type of music was already predominate in the pop/rock industry. So they didn't sign me." Altenburgh, discouraged over missed opportunity, left the rock world completely.
In 1981 Altenburgh enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and studied music/recording technology. Altenburgh performed a double senior recital, performing both classical voice and classical guitar. In 1985, after college, Altenburgh returned to his hometown of Mosinee, Wisconsin and built RiverSide Productions Recording Studio. In the 1980s, Altenburgh wrote production music for such national companies as Ski Doo, JI Case and US Cellular.
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