John did the theme for "Welcome Back Kotter" and the theme for the children's show "That's Cat." In both cases he got a call from the producers asking if he would be interested. For "Kotter," they explained the show and he came up with the song. For "That's Cat" he recorded the basic track and then had the TV crew come into the studio and tape them doing the rest of the tracks. His son Benson, three-and-a-half at the time, sang on the chorus. John also did a lot of theme music for the animators at Nelvana, which produces childrens' shows. He worked on "Strawberry Shortcake" and the "Care Bears" 1 and 3. John loved working with Nelvana. When they did "The Devil and Daniel Mouse" they had John into the cartoonist's studio so that they could watch his fingers move on the neck and strings of the guitar. Maybe the first time a character, albeit a three fingered one, was actually playing the right way.

What's that black archtop you play?

That instrument is a '93 Heritage Eagle made by those real guitar makers from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The guitar has been steadily on the road since they built it for me, finally replacing "The Fish", a 1970 Lucien Barnes advanced jumboish acoustic-electric that played every festival but Woodstock.

What's the weird electric with the long neck?

That's the latest evolution of the baritone guitar made by Harvey Citron out of Woodstock, New York.

What kind of harmonica do you play?

For the last ten years I've played mostly Hohner Meisterclasse harmonicas. Recently I began sending Marine Band models to my favorite customizer, James Gordon, in Bellows Falls, NY. These instruments come back re-tuned and tightened with extra mojo sauce!

How come that tiny amp sounds so huge?

We don't know what AER puts in those little acoustic amps. I get the feeling that if they told me, they'd have to kill me.

When is the album of you and Dave coming out?

The Sebastian/Grisman project should be available in November from Acoustic Disc. It's called, "Satisfied".

I'm having trouble buying Chasin' Gus" Ghost on your website.

Many earlier problems have been solved by the fact that NOW I HAVE A COMPUTER! Hey, you found us today, didn't you?

What about the really old J-Band album, "I Want My Roots"?

That first J-Band album is currently out of print at Music Masters. We are hoping to offer it on our website sometime soon. It includes performances by Jimmy Vivino, James Wormworth, Fritz Richmond, Paul Rishel, Annie Raines, Rory Block, and, yes, the original blues mandolin man,Yank Rachel.

From classical music fans: Where can I get records by the 'real' John Sebastian (my Dad)?

Unfortunately, the world's greatest classical harmonica virtuoso, heralded as "The Paganini of the harmonica" is not currently available on CD. We're left looking for Heliodor reissues of the Tcherupnin concerto or the Villa-Lobos. Music Masters is considering re-issuing, but if that doesn't work, stay tuned to see if we can put it out on that famous record company, JB's CDs!