Biography

Johnny Heap grew up in Geelong, Victoria, and after some teenage dabbling in other music forms, discovered that country was his field. He has been there ever since, with some notable credits to show for his efforts.

A few thousand miles of scattered halls with the Rick & Thel Show during its greatest years in the 60's, in the company of artists like Eddie Tapp, Gordon Parsons and Brian Young, as well as the Careys themselves, taught him anything he had left to learn about country music and honed his act finely.

A residency at the famous Dodds Hotel, with his band "The Sno-men", provided a break from travelling. They worked Dodds till midnight then set up at the nearby Taboo Night Club to play until dawn. It was in Cooma that Johnny met and married wife Val, and they went back on the road with the Careys for a travelling honeymoon.

In 1969 John & Val reckoned it was time to leave the road and settle down to raise a family. He worked as a vocalist and bass guitarist with Nev Nicholls' Country Playboys virtually from beginning to end of their famous Texas Tavern years, and since then has been booked heavily around the Sydney club and hotel circuits as a solo act, doing the occasional short tour as other committments permit.

The secret of Johnny's popularity lies in his strong, relaxed vocals and his easy, friendly manner. And offstage he is noted for an encyclopaedic knowledge of country music lore and statistics, and a sizable collection of records, books and memorabilia.