With his fine baritone voice and unique finger-style guitar playing, John Allen Frink brings a sweet, smooth, soulfulness to every song he performs. His musical tastes range from Appalachia to Nashville and his song list draws from the works of his musical heroes, including Etta Baker, Norman Blake, Jim Croce, Steve Gillette, Bill Staines, and Doc Watson.

John's newly released folk CD, "Bed of Roses" (Crocodile Tunes, 2003), mirrors a lover's many moods, from playful to passionate. Classic love songs such as "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and "Every River" are interspersed with plaintive tunes of what used to be and a sprinkling of humorous melodies to keep the tone appropriately light.

John is currently working on his next album, one with a western flavor, which is scheduled for a fall 2003 release.

John grew up listening to the music of Gene Autry and Scott Joplin. John's dad taught him to play the ukulele at age 8. His passion for the acoustic guitar dates to his 10th birthday, when, after much whining and wheedling, he convinced his parents to buy him a $16.95 guitar from the Sears Roebuck catalog. While a student at Penn State (1960-1964), John immersed himself in the folk scene at "The Hub," the nickname for the student union. John has hosted several reunions of the PSU Folkies over the years. After a brief foray as a folksinger in Boston and New York in the 1960s, John began working as a computer programmer. Though the realities of earning a living forced John to put his music career on hold for a time, he remained active in the musical scene.

John has performed on radio and television, in coffeehouses, concerts, and festivals. He lives in Newark, Delaware, and often plays with the Wilmington, Delaware-based acoustic group Whirled Peas. He appears frequently at the Wilmington venues "Up The Creek" and "Just Desserts" and has performed at Delaware Friends of Folk concerts in Dover.

John also collects flat-top steel-string acoustic guitars. The dozen or so that he owns at any one time appeal to him as much for their exquisite woodcraft as for their unique sounds. His current favorite is a 1998 Dana Bourgeois cedar-and-mahogany 12-fret, sharp-cutaway, slope-shoulder dreadnaught that he considers "one of the sweetest finger-style guitars I've ever played."

For bookings or interviews with John, call Erica Miller at 302-234-9234 or send e-mail to Erica@JFrink.com.