Biography

John Archibold Dixon Swan was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 15th March 1952. He migrated to Australia with his family in 1961 and took up residence in Elizabeth, just on the outskirts of Adelaide. When his mother remarried in the mid-1960s, he was the only child to keep the surname of his biological father, who was an adept boxer. His younger brothers Jimmy and Alan Barnes took the surname of their mother. Swanee started playing the drums at an early age and became entranced with Blues, Soul and Hard-Rock. He left school by the age of 13 to pursue a career in music. He joined his first professional band Happiness a year later. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the Australian Army, and was later discharged after two years of service. In 2017 Swanee was recognized for his work with various charitable organizations with the Order of Australia Medal (OAM). Later he teamed up with war veteran Rob Pickersgill to form the Warrior Music Project, which uses music to improve the lives of military veterans, police officers and first responders. Swanee has remained one of Australia's best-known live acts for over half a century. He still has the same devotion to creating great music as when he was a young kid in Elizabeth, and continues recording and performing music for audiences across Australia and abroad.