Many people claim to have the right to sing the blues. That entitlement may come from their birthplace, their heritage, or their circumstances. John D’Amato definitely has the right to sing the blues because he was literally born blue. John was born with a life threatening condition known as Coarctation of the Aorta, where the lack of oxygen through the body actually caused him to turn blue. Back then there was no way to surgically correct this condition, so he had to be monitored closely and tested frequently. His childhood seemed like an endless routine of doctor visits and hospital stays until he reached the age of nine when an experimental procedure corrected his disorder.

During that time the two things that helped him through those rough times were God and his older sisters’ guitar. He would pick it up, on his darkest days and just play. The more he did, the better he felt. Eventually he got his own guitar and started writing down how he felt at the time, and putting to music