Oslo 19 March 2005

Many of you knew him as Mr. Natural, but to me he was simply John. John Sharp was from Nashville, Tennessee. He was a highly respected chef, but it wasn’t the kitchen where he did his noise. John built his equipment out of found logs, thick tree branches, and small tree stumps. All of which he embedded with electronic components. He would even wire up living plants. His amplifiable logs contributed much to the uniqueness of both his sound and stage presence.

In 2005 I relocated from San Francisco to Hollywood. When I couldn’t find any one to help; John took it upon himself to fly all the way from Nashville to help me pack. Then he drove the moving truck all the way to Los Angeles.

Before that however, in 2002 during a busy European tour with John, the two of us went to Munich to witness a big time wrestling event. Stone Cold to take on The Undertaker. It wasn’t being filmed for TV so these stars did something for the fans. A basic old-school match with all the classic old-school moves. No modern-day showboating. It was actually a great performance. Both John & I were thoroughly impressed.

However, before any of that, the first time we met face to face was in 1998. We were in the back of an old pickup truck. We were huddled together with little to no protection from the elements. It was freezing cold, the middle of the night somewhere in the middle of Missouri. Where we were headed; we weren’t entirely sure.