John Hall is a founding member of the band Orleans
and one of the main instigators of the No Nukes and MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) movements. He’s been intimately involved in promoting social change and environmental advocacy, both as a private citizen and as an elected representative in Congress.

John was studying piano at 5, playing French horn, guitar bass and drums by 12. He started playing in the clubs of Greenwich Village by 18 and at 21 wrote and directed music for a Broadway and
Off-Broadway play. He then worked on numerous projects including Seals and Crofts’ album Down Home. He toured with Taj Mahal and when he came home, started the band that would become Orleans in 1972.

Moving to Woodstock NY with his wife Johanna, the pair began writing together. They had major hits ‘Dance With Me’ and ‘Still The One’, songs that have garnered 9 million terrestrial airplays
and hundreds of millions of streams.

John has also co-written songs for Janis Joplin, Millie Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, The Tymes, Chaka Khan and Chet Atkins among others. He co-founded the group Musicians United for Safe Energy and helped organise the 1979 No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden. His song ‘Power’ was its anthem, performed and recorded there by the Doobie Brothers with James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Carly Simon, Nicolette
Larson, Phoebe Snow, and many more. That song was also sung by Peter Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and others. John’s guitar playing was featured on albums by Browne, Raitt, Carly Simon, Little Feat and more. In the 90s the John Hall Band recorded two LPs: Search Party and All Of The Above, which contained the AOR
and MTV staple Crazy (Keep On Fallin’). 

Environmental activism led John to serve on several boards. In 2006 he was elected to the US House of Representatives and also served on the Select Committee on Energy Independence
and Global Warming.

Returning to private life in 2011, John continued to perform and record with Orleans and as a solo artist. During the
pandemic, he wrote and recorded songs for his latest CD “Reclaiming My Time.”

John Hall joins us this week as special guest to share the stories (and the music) from his life. I hope you’ll join us.

If you’d like to know more about John, check out his website https://johnhallmusic.com/ and if you feel like requesting a guest that you’d like to hear interviewed on the show – reach out to me through my website https://www.abreathoffreshair.com.au

Warm regards

Sandy

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Sandy Kaye Sandy Kaye

Hello, I’m Sandy Kaye. A freelance broadcaster, journalist and producer who has spent more than 35 years on both sides of radio and television microphones. I’ve worked with every TV network in Australia, have produced and presented for countless radio stations around the country and have hosted my own commercial radio talk-back show. I’ve even held the distinction of being Sydney’s first female newsreader on radio – way back when!

Today my passion is A Breath of Fresh Air which allows me to immerse myself in one of my favourite things – music. I just love all kinds of music and am fascinated by the people who make it. In particular, it’s the music of the '60s '70s and '80s that takes me back to my youth and means so much to me.

As a journalist, I’m all about digging deep into the classic hits of our time.
I bring you intimate, warm, fireside chats with the artists who tell us about their lives both then and now.
We learn about what makes them tick, who they are in their professional and private lives and how they went about making the soundtrack to our lives.

'A Breath of Fresh Air’ is exceptional - exceptional not because of me, but rather because of the stories that some of the best-known musical artists choose to share with me.

I created this podcast to honour them. It’s all about THEIR lives, THEIR stories, THEIR music, told now, in THEIR voices, before they’re lost forever.

I see my podcast as a personal labour of love, but also as an archival legacy for music fans and practitioners alike, both current and future, who otherwise might never know of the amazing people who helped build the industry.

I really hope you enjoy each and every episode of A Breath of Fresh Air.