John is the author of the Scottish Guitar Tutor book published by Taigh na Teud and which was part funded by Creative Scotland. He was a board member of the Scottish Culture and Traditions organisation for several years and prior to that, secretary of Aberdeen Folk Club. He has written articles on the role of the guitar in traditional music for several magazines, is an experienced performer and takes an interest in many genres of music.

From 2012 to 2024 he held senior lecturing and managerial posts at Aberdeen, Oxford Brookes and Glasgow Universities. Prior to lecturing, he was in involved in planning, environmental, regeneration, marketing and tourism roles in a variety of public sector related bodies and mainly in north-east Scotland.