John Michael Ferrari
SINGING POET SONGWRITER
J
ohn Michael Ferrari is an award-winning singer songwriter who has written many iconic hits over his career. Many can compare him to the likes of Sammy Davis Jr or a young Bobby Darin. He is described as “crooner with a smooth as silk voice.” In fact, in 2019 he won the award of Outstanding Male Singer Songwriter of the Year by the Producer’s Choice Honors. Aside from being a musical artist, Ferrari is also a songwriter, music arranger, composer, still photographer, public speaker, teacher, and author. He is signed to Pepper Jay Productions. His style of writing is telling swooning stories that entice listeners with his life experiences. Ferrari has also recently assembled his own band called the John Michael Ferrari Band that performs nationally. His genres include Country, Pop, Christian, and Children. Ferrari has an upcoming EP called “Be the Smile on Your Face”, which was based on a personal experience. The EP is being recorded at Larry Beaird Studio in Nashville. Ferrari’s sound can be described as “very California”. He grew up in California, but now he currently resides on a ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. Ferrari has been listening to music since the 3rd grade and all the genres he listened to growing up inspired all of his music. He emphasized that the most important aspect in his music is music structure. The way that songs are written are very important a flowing combination of intro, verses, chorus, perhaps a pre chorus, perhaps a bridge. Ferrari explains “if you have something memorable, you have a song”. Ferrari’s career started taking off when he began in earnest to write and perform his own songs. Initially, he performed covers, but he found that audiences con14 • HOLLYWOOD MONTHLY
nected with him more when he shared his personal life experiences. The title of the EP was inspired when he and another gentleman saw a beautiful woman with a dazzling smile at Trader Joe’s. The gentleman and John both noticed the woman and he told Ferrari “I’d sure like to be the smile on her face” and John agreed. This short encounter inspired the EP’s name and two songs on the EP. All of John’s songs are developed like this. He takes instances and makes them into emotional stories. Pepper Jay helps convey his vision by producing music and creating or securing his album art. Pepper Jay is one of Ferrari’s hugest supporters. Pepper is a music producer, record label owner, actress, teacher, public speaker, and author. She has been Ferrari’s manager for over 30 years. Pepper believes that everything that Ferrari writes is “poetry put to music”. Ferrari has created over 12 singles and his album “My Early Life” throughout his musical career. He also has several unreleased songs that can be found on his Reverbnation page: www.Reverbnation.com/JohnMichaelFerrari. Recently, he has released the song Bad Dream, which is quite different from his other songs. In this song, he cleverly takes the listener through the experience of his reoccurring nightmares. He explains that it’s about “when you have these bad dreams and you can’t quite figure out what they mean”. It’s also about finding yourself out of a bad dream. One of his most haunting lyrics is that “I missed the sign checkout is at noon, all penalties will apply”. In the song, he makes references to “The Catcher in the Rye,” which is about a young boy trying to find his way in life. The listener is to interpret the song in their own way and, like several of John’s songs, there is a twist at the end of the song.
