About John
Music has always been a part of John Mulder’s life. Born and raised in Michigan, as a small child he would fall asleep to his mother’s classical piano practicing late at night. (At 92, she still performs!) The obligatory piano lessons gave way to trumpet, which he continued to play through college. But his real love was the guitar. Obtaining his first steel string Kay when he was 13, purchased with 7½ books of S&H Green Stamps, he developed a passion and groove for acoustic folk music. Occasionally flirting with rock or jazz, he always came back to his folk roots. He performed as a duo with longtime friend Stephan Gaus through high school and college, and it was this relationship that launched a songwriting relationship that continues to this day. Inspired in his early years by the songwriting of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Noel Stookey and Peter Yarrow, John later has attempted to emulate the style and depth of Mark Heard, Jesse Winchester, and Pierce Pettis in his writing.
After graduating from Western Michigan University and moving to Detroit for medical school, John began performing solo in coffee shops, hotel bars and churches. Through the years, he performed in remote rural churches, national youth retreats, small stages, and large arenas, at local, national and international venues. He has a long legacy of leading youth choirs and performing as part of worship praise teams, from Ferrysburg Church in Spring Lake, MI to Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN. Throughout his performing career, he has sought not just to entertain, but provide his audience with nuggets of meaningful insights on life and spirituality. John engages his audiences using storytelling and injecting moments of humor, drawing on his experiences from growing up in inner city Detroit to his work in hospice and palliative medicine.
John began recording in 1985 at Bill Gaither’s studio in Alexandria, IN. Capture the Moment, produced by Roger Byrd and Aaron Brown, was his first collection of original songs. He followed that with his live album The Way He Is, which caught the attention of legendary producer Bob MacKenzie who encouraged John to come to Nashville to record. This resulted in The Learning of the Heart, produced by Grammy-award winning producer Bubba Smith and Buddy Greene, and included such notable Nashville musicians as Jerry Douglas, Kenny Malone, Craig Nelson, Duncan Mullins, John Darnall, George Cochini, Gary Prim and Tricia Walker. His 4th album, On the Way, was another live recording produced by Bubba Smith, and included John’s long time bandmates, Cal Olson, Greg George, and Roger MacNaughton. They subsequently teamed up for another studio offering, Hope Finds a Way. In 2011, John participated in a fundraising concert for Humanity for Prisoners with friends Doug Tjapkes, Lee Ingersoll, Cal Olson, and David Mulder. The event sparked the recording of Sweet Freedom, a collection of familiar, favorite hymns performed in a light, acoustic style. John’s album, Love Has Been Born, released in November, 2012, is the culmination of a longtime desire to record a Christmas album. Produced by Brian Speer, this recording includes some of Nashville’s finest studio musicians, with special appearances by Buddy Greene, Jeff Taylor, Tricia Walker, Allison Speer, Terry Franklin, and Carlos Seise. Through the years, John has been blessed to perform and record with his children (Julie, Matt, Mark, and Emilia), who have found their way into several of his albums. Following in this tradition, five of his grandchildren appear on Love Has Been Born.
John’s recording, Joy Wins, was released in December, 2016. It is specifically dedicated to those who have faced challenges, frustrations, and loss in life. It comes from a very personal reflection of John’s journey with a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. A progressive, terminal lung disease, the only treatment that offers a chance for meaningful life expectancy is a lung transplant. Beating the statistical odds, John qualified for a transplant, and in April, 2017, he underwent a successful transplant. He continues to do exceptionally well, having avoided the complications and challenges that afflict many lung transplant recipients. Most of the songs on Joy Wins were written since his diagnosis, and reflect the opportunities for hope, peace, and joy in the midst of a terminal illness, and honor the power of love, community, and God to bring about healing and purpose in each day. Mentored by Phil Madeira, Merrill Farnsworth, and Beth Nielsen Chapman, John had the privilege of working with outstanding cowriters in the crafting of these songs.
HEAR is John’s latest recording, released in June, 2018. A writing collaboration with David Knibbe, they sought to create a project that could serve as a guide to assist those who are studying the scriptures, engaged in worship, or who simply might want musical accompaniment to their meditation and prayer.
John’s songs found a niche from the late-1980’s into the late-1990’s in Christian radio, from individual stations to networks (Northwestern College Radio, Moody Broadcasting, Family Life Radio). Still the Storms, The Healing Starts Here, The Fact of the Matter, and his cover of Willy Welch’s Playing Right Field were among listener favorites.
Outside of music (AKA, “how John makes a living”), John has found his calling in the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Starting in Family Medicine in Muskegon, MI, he became involved in hospice care in the mid 1980’s. His strong sense of calling motivated him to achieve certification in this medical subspecialty, and he entered into fulltime hospice and palliative work in 2000, relocating to Nashville, TN, where he served as Chief Medical Officer of Alive Hospice. While there, he served as the Clinical Director of the Pain and Symptom Management Program at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center and was instrumental in the development of a comprehensive palliative care program at the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. He has become regarded as an expert in the area of complex symptom management and is in demand nationally as a speaker and authority on end of life issues as well as pain and symptom management. Relocating back to his native Michigan in 2006, John currently serves as the Chief Medical Consultant for Hospice and Palliative Care for Holland Home in Grand Rapids, MI.
John’s passion for compassion ministry has extended beyond the borders of the United States and of conventional medicine. From 1990 through 2005 he served on the Board of Directors of International Aid, a Christian medical relief and development agency. In that capacity he traveled to Third World and limited access countries, including Kenya, Russia, Romania, Somalia, China, and Tibet. In his role with this agency, he evaluated medical care systems and developed programs that have provided the equipment, supplies, and training essential to enhance the quality of life and medical care in these regions.
Music and medicine notwithstanding, John’s greatest love is for his family. He is married to Lisa, a special education teacher; they live in Spring Lake, MI, and are proud to claim eight children, phenomenal in-law kids and girlfriends of our sons, and seven incredible grandchildren.
