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John Lefler Wikipedia - The Free Enciclopedia[[

John C. Lefler born March 18, 1975 is an American songwriter, singer, guitarist, pianist and has been with Dashboard Confessional since 2002.


Early History:

John was born in Houston, TX, moved to Amarillo, TX, for a year when he was 4, went to Elementary School in Edmond, OK, and then moved to Sugar Land, TX, where he grew up and went to Junior High, High School... He went to the University of Texas at Austin, where graduated with a degree in Art - however most of his time in college was spent as a Chemistry major. He has 2 brothers, Bill and Kevin. They are both drummers. Even having the skills to play guitar and keyboards John is not a drummer. John started playing guitar in 1989, piano shortly thereafter. He had only one guitar lesson in his life and the first song he learned was Bon Jovi's, "Wanted Dead Or Alive." And that was the end of guitar lessons for him. His older brother Bill, helped him by teaching some chords as well. He still has his first guitar, a Peavey T-60 (that he keeps under his bed), which his dad got at a pawn shop for $50 at that time. He started writing songs when he about 18 years old, after seeing the John Lennon bio-pic, "Imagine". One of the first songs he wrote is called, "Liberace's Christmas." John had piano lessons while in High School for a few months. “My recital piece was Bruce Hornsby's, "The Way It Is." It was terrible. I've never had another lesson (or recital) of any kind since.” A curious fact also happened in 1996. “I severed the tendon of my right pinky on a glass of milk. Thus, I play the piano with seven fingers and two thumbs.”


Career:

DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL John joined Dashboard Confessional in 2002 after his cousin Mike Stroud left Dashboard to play with another band. Mike asked John if he wanted the gig but John had never really heard Dashboard before. He flew out to meet the guys in Florida and things clicked after Chris saw that John was wearing the same Gap jacket as he was. After a week of quick study on the albums he made his first official appearance as a Dashboard Confessional member on the MTV Unplugged recording. He has been an important tool for Dashboard as the lead guitarist and keyboard player and has since recorded all the albums that followed.


THE WIMBLEDONS John and his 2 brothers Bill and Kevin formed alternative-country band The Wimbledons in 2005 in Los Angeles, CA. After too much arguing between the 3 brothers they finished an EP together. John contributed with vocals and guitars and Kevin also put his voice in some tracks such as “Apologies” and “Long Way From Home”. John did the cover art by arranging candy on his kitchen table. The Lefler brothers had plans for a second EP but the idea was aborted after too much “fighting”, in addition to John moving to Dallas. For now they have no plans for a second EP. The Wimbledons EP is available on iTunes and cdbaby.com.


Solo Discography BETTER BY DESIGN Being influenced by bands like Jellyfish, Ben Folds, Crowded House, The Police, The Beatles, U2 ... John released on his own label Good Hang, his first solo album, Better By Design in June, 2009. Better By Design was co- produced by John, along with friends Salim Nourallah and Rip Rowan and has been referred by people as powerpop, which is fine with John. He has received good feedback from powerpop websites and Dashboard Confessional fans have been very supportive to his solo project. John can often be seen playing with his band in Dallas area. He’ll be on tour with Dashboard from February to April this year and some solo dates are already posted on his myspace page.


Backing Band: John Lefler’s solo project has the following members:

  • Paul Averitt – Vocal/guitars
  • Aaron Haynes – Drums
  • Scott Lee – Bass

Discography:

  • DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL - MTV UNPLUGGED (2002)
  • DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL- A MARK, A MISSION, A BRAND, A SCAR (2003)
  • DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL- DUSK AND SUMMER (2006)
  • DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL -SHADE OF POISON TREES (2007)
  • DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL - ALTER THE ENDING (2009)
  • JOHN LEFLER - BETTER BY DESIGN (2009)


EP Releases:

  • THE WIZERDS (2003)
  • THE WIMBLEDONS (2005)


Featured Guest Appearances:

  • Rhett Miller - "Rhett Miller"
  • John Ralston - "Sorry Vampire"
  • Salim Nourallah - "Beautiful Noise," "Snowing In My Heart"


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