John McVey

John McVey
John McVey at Coupe Studios, Boulder, CO January 15, 2011
Background information
Birth name	John McVey
Born	(1959-11-18) November 18, 1959 (age 57) New Jersey, United States
Genres	Folk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass, mandolin
Years active	1980s–present
Website	johnmcvey.com
Notable instruments
Guitar, bass, mandolin, vocals

John McVey (born John McVey Criscitiello; November 18, 1959) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter from Princeton, New Jersey. His style of music is part of the new folk acoustic movement, bringing elements of pop, rock and folk music to modern audiences. Now living in Colorado, local magazine 5280 describes McVey by saying, "McVey's smooth yet lightly smoky voice create a soft rock, adult contemporary sound that draws worthy comparisons to Marc Cohen, Shawn Colvin, and Daryl Hall".

John began playing guitar and writing songs in grade school, and was a regular performer in high school. He was completely self-taught until college, where he majored in music, studying guitar with classical performer Edward Flower at Ithaca College. Later he studied under jazz guitarist Ted Dunbar at Rutgers University, who played with jazz greats Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams and Gil Evans. McVey graduated from Rutgers with a BA and immediately began pursuing music professionally. He worked as a piano tuner while launching his songwriting and performing career.

In 1991, he and his first band won the Marlboro Music Talent Roundup in Philadelphia. The band won a trip to Nashville to compete with winners from other cities and open for Joe Ely.

John released his first independent CD, Circle of Friends in 1994. The album was produced by Alain Mallet, then husband of Jonatha Brooke. Brooke and McVey became friends and the connection would prove to be enduring. The two would collaborate on multiple recordings throughout the years. Most notable on Circle of Friends is a duet of I Want to Hold Your Hand, a cover of the Beatles song.