“It’s a Holy Happy Hour When You’re Drinking with the Saints” 

WACO, TEXAS, USA — When it comes to writing songs, John 3 is not short of ideas. John Connor, also known as John 3, has released a new track, and it just blew the hinges off the barn door, if you like the blues. 

John 3 has released five full-length albums in five consecutive years, ranging from rock and blues to instrumental tracks in folk, Americana, and contemporary genres. “I released my first album, School Days, in 2017 because two of my guitar students encouraged me. I recorded it in 2007 and it just sat for a decade. As a music instructor, I try to inspire my students. Looks like they did the same for me. If it hadn’t been for these students, there’s no telling where I’d be in my songwriting career,” exclaimed John. 

Following John 3’s debut album, he released two instrumental albums back to back. “I wanted to try new styles that I’d never done before. I’ve always been primarily rock with blues mixed in. Not only did I expand on my songwriting skills, but also as a producer in the studio, coming up with different instrumentation concepts that were, at that time, foreign to me,” John said. 

With albums four and five, John got back to his rock and blues roots again that he is most familiar with. “After I finished my fifth album I needed a break. Five albums in five years is a lot of work, especially as a solo artist that also wears the producer and engineer hats in my home studio,” stated John. 

Taking a short hiatus from music, John then got into RC (remote control) car racing as his new hobby, and unbeknownst to him, this opened up the door to new songwriting ideas. John then released three RC-themed songs: Race Day, Ballad of Ricky Chuck, and Smart Car. “This idea of producing songs based on ‘toy cars’ is a novel idea, but it worked and people like it,” chuckled John. 

This was the creative spark John 3 needed to take on his latest project, Drinking with the Saints. John explained how the idea unfolded on the Pop Roxx Radio Show, “My friend, Mike Foley wrote a book called Drinking with the Saints, and one day I was listening to the Drinking with the Saints podcast that Mike and his wife Alexandra host. And I thought this idea of drinking with the saints would make a really cool blues tune.” Indeed he was correct. John continues, “I already had the idea for the music section, that part was easy, it was the lyrics, as usual, that took time to figure out. I knew the song would have three or four verses so I had to choose wisely what I was going to write about. One night I thumbed through the Drinking with the Saints book and the lyric ideas came to me.” 

John emphasized that he did not want Drinking with the Saints to be just another song about drinking, especially in a negative light. John explained, “my song isn’t just about drinking with the saints, but also drinking as a saint.” 

Drinking with the Saints went on to release February 13, 2023 through his distributor, CD Baby. Since then it has gained traction on Pandora Radio and is currently a featured track. The feedback John has received from his song so far has been very positive. 

When John 3 is not busy teaching music and in the studio writing and recording, he enjoys spending his free time with his two nieces, Brooklyn and Katherin, and also his Sundays at the local RC racing track near his home town.