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John, an accordion player, was born in the Bronx to an accordion-playing father and started lessons with John Glynn when he was 12. John played in the group The Big Wheel with fiddler Pat Keogh, and later made a duet recording with Pat. He was the toast of East Durham in 1982 when he returned from Listowel as the first American senior All-Ireland button accordion champion. John is an expert at tuning and repair of button accordions. He is also an active and successful teacher whose prize pupil, Séagda Coyle, may yet outshine the master.
