Depending on the night of the week, one can often find Franklin’s John Witherspoon out and about town entertaining young and old alike as a K.J. (karaoke jockey).
Karaoke has become an increasingly popular activity for people of many ages and all walks of life. And, thanks to Witherspoon, people in Macon County have multiple opportunities to get behind a microphone and sing a favorite song.
Witherspoon is originally from Cleveland County, North Carolina, where he grew up in Kings Mountain near Gastonia. After graduating from high school, Witherspoon moved to Jackson County and attended Western Carolina University (WCU), 2010-2014. There, he obtained a BS degree in business administration, with a concentration in computer information systems.
“While at WCU, I worked part-time for Drake Enterprises during tax season before moving back home after graduation and applying for jobs,” Witherspoon remembered.
Two weeks later, Drake hired him full-time in December 2014. Witherspoon found himself living in Franklin and has now been employed by Drake for 11 years.
Witherspoon married his wife, Faith, in August 2023, and they now have a nearly 2-year old daughter, Isabella. John and Faith first met at the Lazy Hiker Brewery, one of the establishments where he now provides his karaoke services.
Witherspoon is a software product manager at Drake. Using both his technical acumen with software and electronics, along with an appreciation for entertainment, Witherspoon started hanging out with Tony Curtis, owner of Curtis TV-Radio Shack in Franklin and part-time DJ.
“[Tony] was always a DJ (disc jockey); he and Jamie Styles wrote a DJ file storage program for use at events and Tony did a lot of that work. Then he started doing karaoke events at Lazy Hiker. He’d probably been doing that for three or four years,” recalled Witherspoon.
“I happened to be in there [Lazy Hiker] one night and met Tony there and got to know him a little bit. I thought, ‘Hey, he’s kind of a technical, electronics guy, and I’m into that same kind of stuff. We got to talking and it got to the point where he said, ‘Come sit up here with me.’”
One thing led to another and before long, Witherspoon was assisting and filling in sometimes for Curtis on a volunteer basis as well as working with him during karaoke sessions at the Lazy Hiker.
“Eventually, Tony asked if I was interested in taking over,” said Witherspoon. “He said, as long as an establishment is okay with the change, you can start running it. … He would even come out once in a while and sit with me and assist with some of the mic work, until I got more comfortable doing that.”
From newbie to professional
Witherspoon is going on three years providing karaoke entertainment at Lazy Hiker every first and third Friday from 7 to 10 p.m., generally. Recently, he began KJ-ing at Rathskeller Coffee Bar every other Wednesday from 6:30-8:30.
Witherspoon’s technical computer background and training allows him to enhance the presentation of his show and add some unique visual aesthetics.
“I do a little bit of ‘computer magic’ with multiple logos and add customized information to go with the theme of the night or whatever I want to display,” he stated.
Given the quality of the entertainment, Spoon Karaoke, the name of Witherspoon’s show, has become an appealing option for people in Franklin who want to sing. When asked what his favorite part of the job is, he answered: “Just to see people have fun – I don’t do it for the money. I do it for the people who are singing – to make sure they have fun. And, I always ensure that the people sitting out there listening will have fun. You’ll hear me crack jokes or pick at them sometimes, inviting them up to sing. I want to encourage people. I want to make sure that everyone listening or participating is having a good time.”
He added, “I’ve had people sit the whole night who never said a word or got up and sang. But they’ll come up and throw a tip in my canister and tell me they had a great time. It’s all about entertainment.”
Witherspoon also expressed some satisfaction in boosting an establishment’s business on a given night through what he does as a KJ. He did admit that sometimes a crowded venue is a sort of double-edged sword. If the venue is bustling, things can get hectic, but he understands that is more or less why the business wants his services.
He also advised that skill is needed to create or make the best use of the surroundings, depending on the layout of the location in which he is working.
“I like to show up early, get set up, and test. It goes back to knowing and understanding sound, so I have equipment that allows me to set the sound environment. Then I can ‘set a scene’ for the locale where I am, based on acoustics, volume, speakers, and other things.”
Witherspoon is available for private events, birthdays, graduations, family reunions, or wedding receptions. Email [email protected] or visit his Facebook page.