Self-taught Gold to make own genre

With less than an hour to go before showtime, John Gold was getting restless.

In a few minutes, he would take the stage with his acoustic guitar, playing for more than 50 fans to celebrate the release of his third and fourth self-produced albums. He was all nerves. But it wasn't stagefright that had his palms sweating and his mind running in circles.

"I like to drink a lot of caffeine before a show," said Gold, wide-eyed and sipping a double espresso. "It gets me to not think so much about what I have written. You know how sometimes you'll be on stage and play something random? Something cool that you hadn't planned to? I want to play that tonight."

It was a typical exchange with John Gold of Land O' Lakes, a man as distinguishable by his offbeat personality as he is by his music.

With his single lock of dreaded hair, his peculiar mannerisms and his generally whimsical disposition, few might see in Gold a serious and prolific musician. But during the past six years, the 20-year-old has written and produced more than 150 songs, mostly with instruments on which he was self-taught.

Aug. 26 marked the release of his two new albums, titled, "Cogito Ergo Sum" and "The Aleph." Dozens of fans flocked to the Hot Topic in the Shops at Wiregrass mall to show their support.

"John is great," said friend and longtime fan Brittany Roscoe. "No matter what mood I'm in, I can listen to his music. I've been following him since high school, and he's still at it. You can just tell he loves what he does."

Many of Gold's fans have known him since his days at Land O' Lakes High School, when he first picked up the acoustic guitar at age 14. He was known to tote his guitar from class to class, playing songs for classmates and teachers. Gold took a year and a half of guitar lessons - his only formal musical training - before he set off writing his own songs, recording bits and pieces of music to a digital voice recorder.

Fast forward to summer 2010, and Gold has written and produced four albums. He's played in two bands and toured Florida. Inside his house, the bedroom where he used to sleep is strewn with microphones, headphones, guitars, computers and various other musical equipment. Gold takes pride in learning to produce his own music, which he considers akin to "stumbling around in the dark."

"I guess I just know what sounds good together," said Gold. "Or at least, you know, one possibility of what sounds good together."

Gold recorded his first album, "Cryptiquotes," when he was 17. It had 11 tracks influenced mostly by folk and indie genres. Since then, Gold said he's seen his musical style changing.

"My old music," said Gold, looking pensively at the floor, "it's like it would take you somewhere and then bring you back. Kind of like a wave. With my new music, I feel like it takes you somewhere and leaves you there ... like a bridge."

But wave, bridge or otherwise, don't ask him to categorize it for you.

"Why does music have to be in a certain genre? Why does it have to sound a certain way?"

"I'm making my own genre," he said.

Even when he's not onstage, Gold loves to put on a show. He never misses a chance to act outlandish if it means putting a smile on someone's face. Lindsay Martin remembers his impromptu performance at her neighbor's wedding.

"We went over to their backyard for the party and there was a mic, so needless to say, he was all over that," Martin said, laughing. "He wrote down words to his songs because he wanted me to sing with him. It was funny, everyone liked it."

Martin remembers how in high school, Gold would tape CDs to her car window that she could listen to on the way to class. When she was upset, he played songs on her voice mail to cheer her up.

"He's a great friend," Martin said.

As Gold rounded off the Aug. 26 performance, the crowd was teeming with enthusiasm. He pulled people onstage to sing along to one of his final songs. People lined up at the merchandise table, and Gold stuck around after the show for anyone who wanted his "George Washington Carver" - or as he meant to say, his John Hancock. He shared a laugh with the crowd.

The show went off without a hitch, although Gold might have done well to lay off the lattes.

"Hold on," Gold said, positioning the microphone so that his back was facing the crowd. He let out a sigh of relief.

"This is much less nerve-wracking," he said.