John Orr Franklin’s music is a mix of progressive and album oriented rock with a broad range of styles and influences. The CD Transformation, offers an impressive roster of hand-selected talent, each adding their individual flair to the overall sound of the music. Transformation features John Orr Franklin on vocals, guitars & keyboards, Rob Palladino on drums, background vocals & percussion, Brandon Aly on drums & percussion, Josh Batschelet on upright & electric bass guitars, and Kris Mathesen on electric bass guitar & percussion.

Born in Lexington, Tennessee and raised in the small city of Martin; Tennessee had a strong influence on John. At the age of five he realized, thanks to the band Kiss, that he wanted to play guitar and by fourteen he bought his first electric guitar.  Within a year of taking private lessons; he was playing rhythm guitar in his instructors’ band.  Later on he lived in Memphis and Nashville, which was extremely influential in shaping him as a songwriter because of the variety of music he was exposed to.  In Nashville, he participated in many songwriter events which were interesting since he was the only writer in the room not writing a country song.  In Memphis, it was all about the blues which is where John had his first taste of regular work as a musician.  “Playing in an all blues band on Beale Street had a profound effect on me musically; the blues is at the heart of everything I do as a lead guitarist to this day.”  Besides private guitar lessons John studied In the Record Industry Management Program at Middle Tennessee State University and the Commercial Music Program at the University of Memphis.

The song “Transformation”, as well as others on the album, deals with self empowerment and the ideal that we can make positive changes in our lives if we choose to walk that path.  It describes a hope that humanity could do this on a global scale and actually become more than we currently are as a global population. Both Transformation and Pathways, without a doubt, reflect his best work to date and he’s proud to stand behind them. He is ready to perform and share these songs with anyone willing to lend Him their ears.