John Emil Augustine

John Emil Augustine grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and toured in his twenties and early thirties with local and national acts; writing, arranging, and performing with notable jazz, blues, gospel, reggae, post funk, prog rock, and folk groups. John has also been a landscaper, mail carrier, forklift operator, and English professor with Master's degrees in Adult Education and Communications. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his wife and four boys. John is writing the From the Abyss book series and has recorded the albums Chants for Renewal, Presence and Awareness and Postcards From the Abyss. John is also in the planning stages of "Write Is Right" workshops for abuse survivors. Please visit John's Amazon Artist Page here: http://www.amazon.com/John-Emil-Augustine/e/B00IGE8ZT0/digital/. Keep in touch: http://www.johnemilaugustine.com https://www.facebook.com/johnemilaugustine.author.musician https://twitter.com/JohnEmilAugust Eight little known facts about John: 1. I fell several hundred feet down a mountain in the Swiss Alps when I was 16. My buddies and I decided we were going to go sledding, and I was flying through the snow so fast that when I got to where the snow met the rocks below, I didn't stop. I cartwheeled for a long while, right up to the school bus-sized rocks near the valley. I was somehow able to stretch myself out and stop before I was dashed to pieces. I still have the scars. 2. I've been held at gunpoint/knifepoint more than once and have almost always been able to talk my way out of the situations. I once had three guys follow me into a dark alley after I played a gig and while I was carrying all my equipment. They blocked my path to my car and held knives up to my face, and I still managed to talk them out of the way and left with all my gear and my car. I got lucky. 3. Among others, I used to arrange for and perform with one of the Wailers. I was truly schooled in reggae during that time. 4. I was adopted into a Lakota tribe several years ago and learned more than I can tell from the experience. 5. I have been homeless in the winter, played for change on the streets of Downtown Minneapolis, and have sold scrap metal for food money. I also learned much from those experiences. 6. I had three of my front teeth knocked out while playing a gig on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I now sport porcelain caps. 7. I was an English professor for the better part of a decade until the economy tanked. I loved teaching. 8. I was the victim of domestic abuse, and the "From the Abyss" book series has a lot to do with my experience.