John was born the second son in a family of farmers. As a child, he received a mandolin as a gift from his parents that they bought from a passing salesman. This gift changed his path in life dramatically.
Instead of helping around the farm, John spent most of his time either learning to play or at the taverns of local towns, acting out stories he had heard from adventurers. His parents, thinking him a lazy bum, told him he should move on to a larger town where he could learn more.
John lucked out and joined a performance troupe that was visiting near by. With them, he learned various skills, not only becoming better as an actor and musician, but also learning some acrobatics and juggling, which he enjoyed most.
Unfortunately, his group members started having some artistic differences and decided to break up. Without a home or a real job, John found himself stranded near the town of Bastrop, where he ended up settling for a while.
Most of his time in Bastrop has been spent doing odd jobs such as babysitting and housekeeping or otherwise entertaining the locals at the end of their days. Both to get away from some of the more tedious jobs and to not appear completely useless, John agreed to help Samuel with his newly formed town watch.