"Who's that guy again? ..."

That guy is John Pointer and aside from his nationally televised commercials for Chili's Baby Back Ribs and Schlotzsky's Deli/Austin City Limits, he has been active in the Austin, Texas Music Scene since moving there in 1991.  As a multi-instrumentalist, he has produced, performed, and recorded with numerous bands and artists including Ozomatli, BoomBoxATX, Schrödinger's Cat, Woodwork, Trio Los Vigilantes, and Sixpence None the Richer.  As an actor, he has played Judas in Zachary Scott Theater's groundbreaking bilingual version of Jesus Christ Superstar, and has co-starred on Fox TV's "Prison Break." 

Although John earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cello Performance and Composition, and is two classes shy of another in Italian (UT Austin, Phi beta Kappa 1997), his first language was music. His parents say that before he could form words he sang along to lullabies, mimicking the melodies. He started piano lessons at age five, cello at six, and percussion at nine. He taught himself guitar at eleven and picked up bass at fourteen. By the time he graduated high school he had honed his studio skills, performed in Europe, played with numerous local bands, and was the musical director of a professional doo-wop quartet. He was then accepted to the University of Texas at Austin, and moved there to continue his education.

After graduating he created Schrödinger's Cat, developing a musical style combining his multi-timbral vocal techniques with intense body percussion.  The result was the sound and energy of a full band without the use of any instruments.  With that group he produced and released "Big Beat A Cappella" (1999), and "Spin" (2001).  Also immediately after college, he played cello for the fusion group Woodwork and performed with the bolero trio Los Vigilantes, for whom he sang lead, and played the bass lines and percussion parts on his cello simultaneously. Woodwork released "Some Conversation" (1997) and "Viewfinder" (2000), and with them John was a featured performer and clinician at the 2000 New Directions Cello Festival. Trio Los Vigilantes released "Trio Los Vigilantes" (2000) and "Tiernamente" (2001).

With Schrödinger's Cat, John won "Best Original Arrangement" for Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" (Big Beat A Cappella) from the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America in 1999.  They went on to tour the United States and Japan, appear on the Roseanne Barr show, win the national Kit Kat "Gimme a Break" Contest in 2001, and "Best None of the Above Band" at the Austin Music Awards from 2001-2004 (they placed 2nd in 2005, after not even performing for a year).

In 2003 John launched his solo career.  Featuring his skills as a Human Beat Box, he appeared in two nationally televised commercials, Chili's Baby Back Ribs and Schlotzsky's Deli/Austin City Limits.  He cites Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, and Kenny Muhammad as his main vocal influences.  He began performing live as a one-man band: singing, beatboxing, stomping rhythms, and playing guitar at the same time.  Falling somewhere between music and magic, his show has won him praise from musicians, club owners, and concert-goers alike.  David Cotton, of the renowned Saxon Pub in Austin, describes it simply as, "The most original and innovative musical idea to come out of Austin.  Period."  Acoustic guitar virtuoso Monte Montgomery says, "John Pointer blows my mind."

In November of 2003 he joined forces with Carlos Sosa, award-winning producer/arranger/saxophonist, to form John Pointer and Carlos Sosa's BoomBox.  This band was an invitational all-star jam that took place every Tuesday night with no rehearsal.  The ten regular performers represented over 80 Austin Music Awards among them.  Their show quickly became the unrivaled destination for touring musicians while they were in town.  John Popper and members of Ozomatli performed as regular guests.  Other guests were members of Janet Jackson's band, John Mayer's band, Lyle Lovett's Band, Pat Green's band, and Carlos Santana's band.  The horn section from that band would go on to perform with Jason Mraz, Rob Thomas, Blues Traveler and Joan Jett, among others.

In 2004, John and his groups showed up everywhere at the Austin Music Awards. He won Best Miscellaneous Instrument (Human Beatbox), 3rd Best Male Vocalist, 4th Best Acoustic Guitar, and was voted the 3rd Best Austin Musician of the Year. Schrödinger's Cat won Best None of the Above Band for the fourth year in a row. BoomBox (after only having performed for two months, and only having had a name for one), won Best Experimental/Instrumental Band, 2nd Best Jam Band, 4th Best Hip Hop Band, and 4th Best Jazz Band.

2005 was even better. Austin City Council declared January 27th "John Pointer Day." He hosted a show at the Paramount Theater featuring Ozomatli and Austin's own Grupo Fantasma, and made it into the Cirque du Soleil talent pool.  At the 2005 Austin Music Awards he again won Best Miscellaneous Instrument (Human Beatbox), and placed top five in Musician of the Year, Best Male Vocalist, Best Acoustic Guitar, Best Electric Guitar, Best Songwriter, Best Folk, and Best Novelty.  With BoomBoxATX he won Best Experimental Band, and placed in the top five in Best Jam Band, Best Hip Hop Band, and Best Jazz Band.  With Schrödinger's Cat he slipped from 1st to 2nd Best None of the Above Band (first time since 2001), and his band Sauce won 3rd Best Cover Band.  His beatboxing and vocals were featured in three national TV commercials for Wal-Mart's enormous Back to School campaign.

In 2006 the Austin Music awards proved even more generous.  Following a successful showcase at the International Folk Alliance Conference in February, John was invited to be a consultant for the Folk Alliance's board of directors.  He has also been a curriculum development consultant for the Austin Music Foundation since 2002, and serves on their Advisory Board as well as their Distinguished Artist Panel with such people as Ray Benson, Patrice Pike, and Bob Ludwig (of Gateway Mastering).  Cirque du Soleil also offered John a contract to be the main musician for their 2007 show (now known as Corteo), but he declined in order to focus on his solo career.  On October 22nd, 2006, in the middle of remodeling his house to sell, it burned completely down to the ground.  Miraculously no one was hurt, and he even had one of his burnt guitars, a Telecaster, rebuilt by Ed Reynolds into a soot-black, one of a kind custom instrument - his own personal Phoenix.

2007 saw his debut as an actor, completely reworking the part of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Zach Scott Theater.  For that role he was nominated for  B. Iden Payne award and an Austin Critics Table award.  He also began making his debut album "Schizophonic" available to the theater audience.  He was cast as a co-star on an episode of Fox TV's Prison Break, and was asked to write the vocal column for Recording Magazine and was published in the December 2007 issue.  He designed a new music marketing firm to help musicians find the fans that will fund them, completely short circuiting the need for major label support.  He partnered with a longtime friend and fellow musician Tony Velasco to flesh it out, and recruited three MBA students at St Edwards University to create the business plan, financial plan and feasibility study as their Capstone project.

He has also been working on solutions in both the public and private sector to build a new kind of music business infrastructure in Austin.  He describes the assets they have there as the future of the music industry:  Advertising agencies, a tech sector for delivery and development of new music media, and broad placement opportunities in the film, television, gaming and comemrcial markets.  He has scaled back his public appearances, but played lead guitar, cello and backup vocals briefly for Cristian Castro, a Mexican pop singer.  He is currently designing a nonprofit arts funding initiative to help venues establish themselves as world class music destinations.  He says of the organization, "Since Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, I figured there should be a way to put some Capital into the Live Music."  He still performs as a one-man wall of sound spearheaded a project to present live music at Zach Scott Theater, and will be the first featured artist there on January 29th and 30th, 2009.

So that's who John Pointer is so far.  Enjoy the music, spread the word, and stay tuned.