John Gillespie has almost always been musically gifted. It was expected, with a father good enough to play with Loretta Lynn, Sonny James, Red Sovine, Johnny Horton and other country music stars, right before he formed his own gospel band. James Gillespie taught his whole family to play and sing. John could have been the best of them all.

John’s brothers Wayne and Mike played guitar and drums, James and his sister Brenda also played guitar, and mum Edna sang. John mastered piano and keyboards, eventually bass, and could eventually play about 15 other instruments.

At age 12, John’s family enrolled him in piano lessons. He brought home three music books and was told to keep playing the same three songs until he could play them well. After only a few weeks, John was able to play every song in the books, every bit by ear. John said, “I would choose the notes from the first two lines and then I would have them. I could read enough to get each of them going. Then it came to me. The music teacher told my parents that I was ready to go, that there was nothing else he could teach me.

By age 14, John was playing as often as possible with his father’s gospel group, the Laymen. John said, “When I heard the singers sing, I got to play the song. But since I was still in school, I couldn’t travel with them all the time.

Right after high school, John heard a band called “High Country” playing in Charlotte, his hometown. They didn’t have a piano or keyboards set up and John told the band leader he could bring them a keyboard. John said: “It went so well that the band asked me to come on stage with them and asked me what I wanted to play. I suggested “Stranger in my House” by Ronnie Milsap. It couldn’t sound better and immediately they offered me a job to travel with them on the road. All I could say was “When are we leaving?” ”

Two days later and at the age of 18, John began traveling full time with High Country, an offshoot of the Swinging Medallions who were famous for three No. 1 songs including “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love”.

John was living his dream as High Country opened for George Jones’ band and he was often invited to stay on stage and play with Jones. John said: “George was a great guy, especially humble after missing so many engagements and winning the title of ‘No Show Jones’.” Jones had problems with alcohol abuse before that time and John was heading into the same direction.

John eventually played with Gene Watson and Jim Glaser, two big stars in their own right. In 1991, he performed “Loneliness Fills the Heart” at the Nashville Revue. When the song was recorded and mixed in the studio, John played piano, drums and bass. It was broadcast on the radio in other regions, but not here.

Playing at the Yellow Rose in Mooresville in 1997, John hit rock bottom. He was found passed out on the hood of a vehicle after a show, completely overwhelmed by the mixture of alcohol and drugs he was consuming. John said: “I started doing the adult thing, drugs and alcohol, which is common in entertainment culture. I found myself at home in bed after a long drive and I didn’t know how I got there. I drove while using cocaine for 12-24 hours straight. I knew I couldn’t go on like this. I was raised in church and wanted to go back. The bartender that night at the Yellow Rose was John’s future wife, Shelia. It was the first time they had met.

Assessing where he was and where he wanted to go, John looked at his life. He said, “I had become a follower instead of a leader. I had ruined my relationships and my friendships and I knew I was going to die if I didn’t stop. My parents raised me well and I knew better. I wanted life on the road until I didn’t. I asked the good Lord to take away my desire.

After those fast times on the road, John started playing with smaller bands again, one of them led by an Elvis impersonator called JJ and Company. John became an Elton John impersonator, calling him and Milsap, Barry Manilow and his family musical influencers.

John was solidly back in church and working at a plywood supplier, but eventually serious health issues hit him hard, perhaps in part as remnants of life on the road. A bout with extreme blood sugar issues, congestive heart failure and pancreatitis eventually led doctors to tell the family he would not make it. But he did, and he also survived a recent, very serious battle with COVID. John had to take a break from music recently due to arthritis in his hands.

Pastor Mike Martin of the Shepherd Baptist Church knows John and Shelia well. He said, “John is a real blessing. His talent is remarkable. John and Shelia are both donors, their lives are such a great testimony that they stayed the course. John takes the pulpit whenever we need it, where his preaching skills are also remarkable.

As a child, John often visited his grandparents in Mooresville and traveled to Shepherd Baptist with his family members. These days, he’s been back for a long time and raves about the church and how close the members are. Often recalled how the life of glitz and glamor has become more about drugs, alcohol, heartache and pain, he is happy with things as they are. Upcoming music will be at his church or a jam session at the Patterson Grange reunion.