John T. Nance Jr. was born October 31, 1953 in Community Hospital in Evanston, Illinois.

As a child he was very active in sports and music but like most American youth of that time when The Beatles led the British Invasion of the US he fell head over heels in love with the guitar.

His mother finally gave in to his consistent pleading and bought him his first guitar from Sears when he was 12 years old. For the next 3 years he continued with his sports activity but practiced and played in "kid" bands until at age 15 he was recruited by bassist Donald "Duck" Pryor and with his mother's permission began playing professionally at adult venues and clubs at night while attending high school and participating in sports during the day.

In his Junior year in High School John was recruited by teacher Avon Gillespie and became a prominent member of The Music Department at Evanston Township High School making the decision to choose Music over Athletics and the rest is history.