John McLaren is an Instrumental Guitarist who was born in Toronto, Ontario and currently calls Moncton, New Brunswick home. John’s musical journey began when he was seven years old, when he took up playing classical violin and Scottish fiddle music. His musical roots came from Cape Breton Island.
His Grandfather Dan J Campbell, Uncle John Campbell were both professional fiddlers. By the age of fifteen, John lost interest in the violin altogether. Instead, he decided to teach himself how to play the guitar by reading books and watching many hours of video. He lists his biggest influences as Eric Johnson, Bruce Cockburn and Micheal Hedges.
In John's late teens to mid twenties, he was performing mostly electric guitar gigs alongside various artists in the Greater Toronto area. It was Brittany McLaren, John's wife, who encouraged him to start recording and releasing his original music to the world in his thirties. Many of his songs were inspired by years over the road driving an 18 wheeler and travelling North America with his wife Brittany.
John’s debut single “The Pathless Path” in 2020 was featured on the prestigious Candyrat Records Youtube Channel. The following year, John collaborated with Indiana-based singer/songwriter Stephanie Heitz to release the single “Any Other Way” with the rising star. Buzz Music LA writes that "Creating a lifelike narrative that practically leaps out to your ears, "Any Other Way" provides all the emotion you need.” He has also written music for the upcoming international documentary film, "Pilgrimage to Enlightenment" directed by Luke Chadwick Jones.
John McLaren's brand new, debut, self-titled album was mixed by himself in his home studio, and mastered by the legendary guitarist Antoine Dufour.
John continues to perform his original compositions on a regular basis throughout the Maritimes. He has received praise by many professional guitarists in the industry including, two time Grammy nominated jazz guitarist Raul Midon who commented on one of John's Instagram videos by saying "Awesome! Cool!" John's latest official music video for "Innocence" was released through Candyrat Records which makes this his second video release by them.
His style of guitar playing is very unique because of the percussive elements and altered tunings. Everything that you hear is played on one acoustic guitar with no loops, tracks or other instruments. Stay tuned for more albums on the way!