By the early 50's, John had one of the youngest groups to perform in his home area. John was born in Columbus in 1936 and was educated at Columbus High School and Auburn University. His main subject was art and music and he became owner of his own advertising agency as his main profession. He started learning alto sax in the 8th grade, later switching to bass fiddle and became proficient in playing the instrument under the instruction of his first mentor, George Unverzagt. He soon formed dance combos consisting of other high-school musicians. They played out of the "Combo Ork" books and some commercial arrangements. For experience, they played for many free school dances and at a big building called Teen Tavern, then a very popular hangout for teenagers. A larger group John formed was called John Suhr And His Orchestra, consisting of two trumpets, a trombone, 3 to 4 saxes, piano, bass and drums. John began doing more vocals at this time, and began writing more complex arrangements. In 1954, his senior year, George Unverzagt encouraged John to join Jimmy Fuller's Cavaliers, at first only on vocals, then baritone sax, later on vibes, and clavietta. The Cavaliers was a 15 piece band that played classic arrangements of the great bands plus charts by other members, including John. The band played in several cities in the southeast and sometimes under the baton of nationally-known professionals like Warren Covington (The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra), Claude Thornhill, Billy Butterfield and Dean Hudson. The band once played for a local Bob Hope show and in 1961 did a concert with the great Doc Severenson. He retired from The Cavaliers in 1973, after a nineteen year tenure, at the same time that the leader Jimmy Fuller left. Several years after leaving the Fuller Band and in the early eighties, he became very proficient on an elaborate stereo electronic keyboard and played along with live musicians for many dances in the area. The Cavaliers continued until this day and John led it for a year in 1989 and in 2007, performed a vocal concert with the band.