John Schiavone, band Leader and drummer of the Hipshot Band was born and raised in Roslindal, MA. John was bitten by the music bug at the early age of 8 years old. He started out by taking Marching Drums in elementary school for a couple of years.

 

John grew up in a neighborhood, which at the time, seemed to be filled with nothing but musicians. With his fascination and love for music he quickly gravitated towards the older kids in the neighborhood that played music at each other houses. Often times, he would imitate them, their styles, their mannerisms and add some of his own flavor. With John being able to do that and so quickly, he was further inspired with the desire to play music on his own. One Christmas at the age of 11, John asked his mother if he could have a set of drums; she got them for him and shortly afterwards he and his childhood neighbor and friend, Ronny Ward, got together and began to play music. They started out playing a lot of Beatles tunes and a ton of music they heard on WRKO and WVBF from the AM GOLD Charts that was popular during that time. They were born naturals!

 

At the age of 15, John, Ronny, and a couple of their friends started their first band, “TROUBADOUR”. It took them about a year of rehearsing in making sure the band was tight. In 1976, when John was 16 years old, TROUBADOUR began playing out in various clubs in Massachusetts outside of Boston, every weekend for about 3 years. They primarily played Disco music which was popular at the time. In 1979, some of the same members of TROUBADOUR, along with two new additions, went on to form a new 5-piece band by the name of “RUKUS” that played Top 40 Rock [80’s Rock]. They played in many clubs and venues in the Boston area. RUKUS had a 3 year run that ended in 1981. In the early 80’s John went on to join the band “ANY VEHICLE” led by his friend Nick Vecchio, as their Drummer. ANY VEHICLE was a band that performed original tunes written by its members.

 

In the mid-80’s, John took a brief break from music to focus on an electrical trade, but music was something that was in his blood and he could not leave it alone for long even if he tried. Before long, John was asked to join another band as a drummer with some other friends by the name of “WINDFALL.” WINDFALL was an established wedding/function band and John fit right in. He stayed on with them for about two years. In 2004, John decided to start his own band again and grabbed a few old friends and put together a Classic Rock band by the name of “ROCK SALAD”. They continued on as ROCK SALAD for about 2 years and then changed the name and direction of the band. The band name was changed to “HIPSHOT” with the genre and focus to be more Classic R&B. Over the years and to the present, The HIPSHOT BAND has evolved and went on to incorporate multiple genres of music that reaches all age demographics that include Top 40, Swing, Country, Motown, Disco, Rock, Reggae and more.

 

John was heavily influenced by so many different artists and genres of music like: Wilson Pickett, The Beatles, James Brown, David Bowie, Earth Wind & Fire, Benny Goodman, Bobby Rydell, Aretha Franklin, anything Motown, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, The Stylistics, Elvis Presley, The Platters, Bobby Darrin, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Cars, Steely Dan, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Madonna, Billy Idol, The Thompson Twins, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Tavares, Sounds of Philadelphia, Barry White, Dionne Warwick, The Jackson 5, Bob Marley, Classic Rock, Disco, R& B, Swing, Country, you name it – it is like one big “Musical Gumbo!” John loves the drumming styles of John Bonham, Keith Moon, and Benny Benjamin (Papa Zita) just to name a few.

 

John, if you could be on stage performing with some artist, who would they be? 

 

“Jimmy Hendrix, John Lennon, Wilson Pickett, Roger Daltrey, The Horn Section from Earth Wind & Fire, Sam & Dave, Anita Baker, James Brown – there are so many others, I wonder what that would be like?”