Johnny's interest in music started at the age of three when he learned to play the guitar. By the age of four he was singing solos and accompanying himself with his guitar. Shortly after his sixth birthday Johnny was visiting his aunt in Memphis, Tennessee who owned an old upright piano. It was during that visit Johnny discovered his love for this instrument. Within a few hours he was playing a number of chords and to his family's amazement he could navigate his way through a song with unusual dexterity. His aunt was so moved by this sudden God given ability that she gave Johnny her piano. After transporting the old upright back to his home in Little Rock Johnny's parents made the decision to enroll Johnny in formal training. That decision proved to be one of great wisdom and Johnny has drawn from this classical training throughout the years.

Each year brought new development in Johnny's music. By the age of eight he had made a recording and began making a few appearances in churches and on radio. After his 12 th birthday he entered into the Teen Talent competition and won 1 st place in the state of Arkansas for “piano solo.” By the age of 17 he had reached the national finals and was awarded 2 nd place in the nation.

Johnny's love for gospel music was cultivated by his father. Johnny's dad was writing songs in the 1950's and developed into a prolific writer by the 1970's. His songs have been recorded by many popular gospel groups in gospel music including The Happy Goodman Family. Johnny's talent to play and arrange music and his dad's ability to write lead to a partnership that created one of Arkansas's most popular gospel quartets, The Majestic Sound. The creative talent of this young piano player was easily noticed by Rusty Goodman when he heard Johnny in 1972. Rusty decided that evening to invite Johnny to become a part of The Happy Goodmans.

It wasn't until 1975 that Johnny accepted the position of pianist/arranger for The Happy Goodmans. He married his sweetheart, Sherry McDonald, in August of 1974 and the two felt that God's will would be served by joining America's favorite gospel singing family. Responding the call to preach to gospel had influenced every decision that Johnny made including the decision to join the Goodmans. Because Howard and Vestal were familiar with the call to preach Johnny felt assured that they understood his heart and commitment. The years with the Goodmans proved to be a wonderful platform for Johnny's music and pulpit ministry.

In 1977, after the birth of their son, Aaron, Johnny and Sherry moved back to Little Rock to begin an Evangelistic ministry with his family. Although not directly involved with the day to day lives of the Happy Goodmans, Johnny's friendship with all the Goodman family continued to blossom. Even through the breakup of the Goodmans in 1980, Johnny remained a close friend to Rusty, Sam, Howard & Vestal. Johnny never took sides on any of the issues that separated the Goodmans, but actively played the role of peacemaker until their reunion in 1990.

Johnny and his family enjoyed national success with several single song releases in the early 1990's. Chart toppers like How Long, The Church is Alive and Well, We'll Soon Be Done and That's No Hill For A Climber introduced Johnny's sound identity apart from the Goodmans. After the death of Rusty and Sam, Johnny and his family would often team up with Howard and Vestal in concert. It was during these special times that Johnny would join Howard and Vestal to sing some of the songs that the Happy Goodman Family made popular. Howard and Vestal often said, “When we hear Johnny sing, we hear Rusty!”

That's really no surprise. It was Rusty's influence that helped to carve out Johnny's style of singing. In 1976 Howard was experiencing some vocal problems. His voice would just leave him at times and it was though he was experiencing some form of laryngitis. This had been going on some time when Rusty had the idea to have Johnny sing Howard's part when his voice would fail. Rusty spent some time teaching Johnny how Howard placed his tones and formed his words so that his substitution could happen without notice on stage. Howard was instructed to continue to move his mouth as though he were singing and Johnny would sing for him. With Howard at 375 pounds at the time, he would stand in front of the piano and Johnny would never be seen by the audience. The plan was a success. No one ever detected that Howard ever had a problem. Thankfully, after some time, Howard's vocal problem left and things returned to normal (or as close as the Goodmen ever got too normal).

Johnny and his family moved to the Nashville area to pioneer a church in Smyrna, Tennessee. River of Life began in 1992 with eight people and has grown to be a strong vibrant church with great visibility on Sam Ridley Parkway. During the early days of River Of Life, Howard and Vestal would drive from the Brentwood home to join Johnny in service as often as they could. Again, they would sing the old songs and enjoy the anointing that was so familiar with The Happy Goodman Family. It was about that time that Bill Gaither began his video series, The Homecoming.

Howard and Vestal ask Johnny to join them for some of the early videos and Bill Gaither heard the trio for the first time. He quickly extended an invitation to Howard, Vestal and Johnny to be a part of the Homecoming Concert tour and it wasn't long until The Happy Goodmans were reinvented. Johnny continued to pastor River Of Life and travel with The Happy Goodmans until the death of Howard Goodman in 2002. Howard's illness prevented him from finishing the Final Stand Concert Tour and Johnny's son, Aaron, filled the dates singing Howard's part and continuing the tradition.

Upon the death of Howard Goodman, Vestal wanted Johnny and Aaron to continue singing with her as The Happy Goodmans . Though Howard could never be replaced, the trio continued until Vestal's death in 2003. Johnny continues as pastor of River Of Life and is involved in gospel music in various ways. He currently hosts a television show, At The River , and appears on selected concert dates. He has finished his current recording project entitled "The Sweetest Song I Know: A Tribute To The Happy Goodmans. His first single "Tellin' My Blues Goodbye" is climbing the charts.

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