John Magruder's RARB Bio

I was born in Miami, Florida back in '69. After a few months, I moved to Downers Grove, Illinois because the winter in Miami was not cold enough. My parents reluctantly followed.

I discovered the wonders of singing a few years later when I got bored with reading everything I saw. In grade school, I sang in special local choirs and in every school function I was allowed to attend. I performed in a few musicals while in school, and in high school I sang with every special singing group that I could. I sang madrigals, I sang pop, I sang jazz. Secular, sacred, you name it, I sang it. I was in high school to sing-- not to get an education.

After high school I joined the US Air Force. For the next four years I was a Bombing and Navigation Systems Specialist. This meant I troubleshot and repaired the Radar, Computer, Camera, and Navigation Systems on B-52 Stratofortress Bombers. I served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, stationed at a (then) secret base in Saudi Arabia.

During my time in the Air Force, I did not sing much... except for in the shower. I also found that I did not want to be in the military for life, and wanted to pursue massage therapy instead. Go figure.

When I got out of the military, I started school at the University of Illinois. Shortly thereafter, a new friend of mine asked me to go with him to an audition for a new a cappella group on campus. He knew I used to sing a lot and wanted some moral support. At the audition, the people in charge asked me if I wanted to try out too. I wasn't too interested, but they eventually talked me into it. When I sang my solo, the group members started harmonizing with me spontaneously, and it was great. Less than a week later, they asked me (but not my friend--oops!) to join their group, and I said yes.

That group was the Xtension Chords.

Four years and two albums later, I found myself a very different man. While at the U of I, I grew my hair out and even got an earring. I discovered the wonderful world of the World Wide Web. I was there when Mosaic (remember that?) was the newest and most curious of programs and Mark Andreessen was just another unknown CS major. I was an HTML coder for the now defunct online humor magazine MELVIN, and later a webmaster for an Internet Service Provider new to the Champaign-Urbana area. I even worked as a massage therapist for a while, too. After I moved back to the Chicagoland area, I sang briefly with a semi-pro a cappella group that later broke up.

I am now living in Berwyn. I work in my hometown of Downers Grove where I am again a Webmaster. I am also married to a wonderful woman... one of the founding members of the Rip Chords-- a women's ensemble that started at the same time as the XChords. What can I say? A Cappella brought us together.

OK, time to summarize:
singer-turned-war veteran-turned-massage therapist-turned-singer-turned-Web designer

Got it?
Now you know more about me than you probably even wanted to know.