Percussionist John Mahon of Canton has spent 20 years on ... Elton John’s beat

March 17, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Goose bumps don’t come easy to Canton native John Mahon, who has been a working musician since the early ’80s.

However, in 1997 he did have a hair-raising experience while receiving a call that truly changed his life. After all, it’s not every day someone offers you a job performing in Elton John’s band.

Prior to 1997, the multi-instrumentalist lived in Los Angeles. For years he played in original bands and was a studio and touring musician with the likes of Al Stewart, Rita Coolidge, Peter White and Chuck Negron.

“It didn’t happen overnight,” said the 1973 St. Thomas Aquinas High School graduate. “I feel like luck has a lot to do with things, being in the right place at the right time and being prepared. I was very prepared when I got offered the job by Davey Johnstone, Elton’s musical director.

“I had done a recording session he heard me on. Davey asked me to sing on some recordings he was doing, and then about a month after, he called me to say Elton’s percussion player isn’t coming back. He said they were looking for someone who can sing, play drums, play electronics and cover all of the extra bases. I said, ‘I’m your guy.’”

It turned out Mahon’s musical foundation, which began in high school playing the drums and singing in the choir, would lead to a dream come true.

Soon after getting the call from Johnstone, Mahon found himself rehearsing with the Rock Hall inductee in the south of France because, well, it’s Elton John. Of course that’s where he’d have rehearsals for a festival show performing before 40,000 people in Germany.

At the time, Mahon viewed the massive gig as a one-off. Then tragedy struck when John’s friends Gianni Versace and Princess Diana died.

“I thought Elton would probably never leave his house again, but he wanted to go back to work,” Mahon said. “And after Diana died, we started a tour in England. I remember that because a crazy amount of flowers put out for Diana were right next to my hotel. Honestly, I still kind of thought that maybe that would be it, but we toured steadily until 2000.”

What’s interesting about Mahon is prior to joining Elton’s band, aside from liking the piano man’s 1971 classic “Madman Across the Water,” he admittedly didn’t know the platinum artist’s vast catalog.

“I was a fan of all pop music, and I was really a fan of piano-playing artists like Billy Joel,” Mahon said. “Of course, when I started to work with Elton, I had to go listen to all of these albums, and honestly I didn’t realize he had so many records and made that much music. It was kind of an enlightening experience.”

Over the past few years, John has been busy touring incessantly. This includes a return to Youngstown for a Tuesday show at Covelli Centre.

When it comes to playing John’s hits, Mahon said “Levon” and “Daniel” are fairly challenging due to their vocal harmonies.

“John’s music touches everyone in a different way,” Mahon said. “I see people bawling their eyes out when we play ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.’ I have to sing all of these vocal parts, and I’m choked up.”

He added, “I get it. I’ve been playing with him for 20 years, and I still get goose bumps.”