John is a writer and a composer. He co-wrote the top 5 selling album Seven Years Ten Weeks in 2003. He is one of the Kielty Brothers who wrote the opening number for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. They have written several award winning musicals: Sundowe (Winner of Cameron Mackintosh's Highland Quest 2008) Greyfriar's Twisted Tales (Spirit of the Fringe 2008) Mercy Madonna of Malawi (Spirit of the Fringe/UNESCA Festival of Light 2009) and a trilogy of musicals for RCS: Confessions of a Justified Songwriter, Active Virgin and Wasted Love (Best Lyrics MTM Awards plus nominations for Best Score, Book and Best New Musical.) They also created the hit musical The 27 Club (St Pauli Theatre, Hamburg) and contributed several songs to Glasgow Girls (NTS). Currently he is developing a new piece about the first female medical students: The Edinburgh Seven and developing Wasted Love for TV.
Recent Theatre Scores include: The Belle's Stratagem (Royal Lyceum) The Cone Gatherers (His Majesties Aberdeen) Cinderella 2 (Oran Mor) Ma Bit (Toonspeak) Tin Forest: Ash and Ember (NTS) The Satire of the Three Estates (A&BC Productions) Educating Agnes (Theatre Babel) Aladdin, Lovers, Sleeping Beauty (Cumbernauld Theatre) Merlin The Magnificent (Royal Lyceum) Why Do You Stand There in the Rain (Pepperdine University) Medea's Children (Lung Has/Unga Klara).