Pix

John Dorr knew he was going to be a musician from his earliest memory of watching a band march by during a parade. It was later cemented as his destiny with the exhilaration of the first standing ovation he experienced in the 5th grade at only his second public performance. Hooked now, John began his musical education in the excellent public school music system of El Paso, Texas but mostly he learned through his own self-study and thus understands both the learning and the teaching process. Formally, he went on to study music at Metropolitan State College in Denver, the University of Colorado at Denver and the Little Creek School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia.

John's musical career began in 1970 as a teacher at the prodigious age of only 15 in a music store in El Paso, Texas, and has been a professional musician since 1974. Beginning his career with the 62nd Army Band as the jazz-rock combo leader and arranger, and subsequently touring with national and international acts, he has also performed with top stars such as comedian Bob Hope, jazz musician Clark Terry, and fiddler Jana Jae from "Hee Haw". Currently he performs with the Helena Symphony after a long period of leading and arranging his own award-winning variety band in Helena, Montana—In Cahoots.