JOHN BEAL
MUSIC

John Beal III’s life has always been filled with melodies and harmonies. Growing up in Southwest Atlanta, music was always playing in the house; his father was an avid Jazz fan, his mother played Aretha Franklin everyday and his older sister played the piano. John consumed these sounds and began imitating his sister by banging on the piano keys.

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At age 7, John’s father introduced him to Cannonball Adderley and he became enthralled with the soulful stylings of the saxophone. By age 9, John had discovered the harmonic instruments and even though he continued to focus on the sax, he increasingly edged towards the piano. Around this time, at age 13, he was given his first drum machine and was introduced to the vast world of musical production. In middle school, John studied under his first band director, Mr. Sims. Mr. Sims worked with many super talented musicians that hailed from Atlanta and John quickly became a part of that elite group. John’s proficiency and musicality with the sax began to flourish under Mr. Sim's tutelage, however, by the age of 14, he was playing just as much piano as he was the saxophone.

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When he entered high school, everything changed. He met and became friends with the future Grammy award-winning Kebbi Williams, a fellow sax player. After hearing Kebbi play, John decided to give up playing saxophone completely. He even gave Kebbi his sax. John has been fully focused on tickling the ivory ever since. Completing the circle, Kebbi's father, jazz musician Earl Williams, gave John his first professional keyboard. This milestone marked the launching of John's career as a professional musician. He was 16 years old.

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John attended Clark Atlanta University in the mid to late 1990’s where he majored in music, sang in the philharmonic chorus and played piano and keyboard in the jazz ensemble. While attending Clark AU, he had the opportunity to play with such illustrious musicians as Lionel Hampton, trumpeter Jon Faddis, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder, James Moody, composer Lalo Schifrin, George Howard and Lou Rawls. In 1998, John decided to take a break from college to focus on his music full time.

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Over the next several years John stayed busy creating a name for himself in and around Atlanta and throughout the Southeastern United States. He served as the musical director for several national touring productions and he formed several bands-- BealStreet, Indigo Sunset and the John Beal Collective. His band Indigo Sunset was well known for making Barley's on Peachtree a popular Friday night hotspot for five years in a row. John’s experience and professional reputation afforded him the opportunities to work with many dynamic recording artists such as Stevie Wonder, Wynton Marsalis, CeCe Peniston, Pastor Norman Hutchins, Angie Stone, Mikki Howard and Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

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Back in 2003, John and Kimberly Beal created Orange Room Studio and for the last decade or so John has split his time between performing and producing other artists. He has production credits for projects for Palmer Williams Jr., Tony Anthony Grant, Tony Hightower, Jamal Ahmed's Dangerfeel Newbies, India Arie and Jill Rock Jones to name a few. John has also released several of his own projects and started his own company, Beal Street Entertainment. In addition to production and performing, John began composing his passion project, "In The Beginning Was the Drum” in 2008. It continues to be a work in progress and is planned to be released in the near future.

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In 2013 John’s vision expanded even wider when he created and launched Orange Room Radio, an internet based radio station whose mission is to promote fellow musicians and visionaries. In 2015 he returned to Clark Atlanta University to finish what he started. He graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Commercial Music Composition.

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Today, John continues to create and add to his discography. He debuted his most recent project, "Welcome to the Feel Good" on December 7, 2019.

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John is passionate about continuing his musical legacy with this three sons and loves participating in the musical discussion with everyone he encounters.