John Widener

John was born in Jenson, Kentucky, a small town about four miles from the city of Pineville. He was born into a family of eight children, six boys and two girls. At the age of sixteen, John began playing bass in a band that included three of his older brothers (Howard, Bill and Charles) and a friend, Harold McGeorge.

John later moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, and joined the Clyde and Marie Denny Band in 1971. In 1977 he helped form the Cottonwood Band which performed in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Members of the band included Frank Kemper, Mike Sudduth, Scotty Campbell and Hubert Dawson. He joined the Dean Osborne Band in 2002. John plays bass and sings harmony.

John works for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Game Management Foreman, over animal care and security, at the game farm in Frankfort, Kentucky. Animals at the facility include: elk, bison, deer, bobcat, bear, eagles, wild turkey, venomous snakes and aquatic animals.

His hobbies include hunting (deer, turkey, 'coon', dove, rabbit and squirrel), beekeeping, horseback riding and bird watching.

John is married and has four children and two grandchildren.