John grew up in Charlotte, NC, and attended East Mecklenburg High School. He was a trombone player who served as trombone section leader for two years and received the Marching Eagle Award during both of those years. After graduation, director Michael Soltys hired John as a marching instructor for the following two years.

He went on to earn both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from East Carolina University. In 1985, he marched with the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps. For the past 36 years, John has worked as a band director in both public and private schools while also teaching private lessons after school. In 1992, he founded the band program at Northwood Temple Academy in Fayetteville, where his groups earned numerous Superior ratings at the NC Band Festivals. He remained at Northwood until recently, when he moved to Mooresville to help care for his elderly parents.

Throughout his career, John has composed more than 600 band arrangements for all instruments and written 20 high school musicals. He also served as Minister of Music at Lebanon Baptist Church in Eastover, NC, where he played piano, guitar, trumpet, trombone, and directed the choir. He is the author of The Wright Band Method, a band method book series available through TheWrightBandMethod.com and J.W. Pepper.

In 2023, John received the Award of Excellence from the Southeastern Band Masters Association in recognition of his middle and high school band performances at state festivals, his method books, and his educational instrumental videos on YouTube.

John and his wife of 37 years now live in Mooresville. They have one son, a daughter-in-law, a granddaughter, and another granddaughter on the way in February. These days, John proudly goes by his favorite title yet: Grandpa Wright.