Finance Guy Comes Full Circle
John Henry McDonald
Helps Transform
the
Austin Classical Guitar Society
by Jason Borisoff
John Henry McDonald, 62, is not your typical finance guy. He holds no fancy business degrees, speaks in the vernacular, and has a capacity for brutal honesty. Though, at first glance, he seems like an unlikely candidate to be at the helm of a top asset management firm, his cowboy charisma and no-nonsense tenacity shines through in conversation. It becomes clear that founding and running his own business is only one chapter in his colorful life, which begins, and so far ends, with music.
As a young teen in Seattle, Washington, McDonald fell in love with the guitar, and by 16, he was playing in coffee shops and on street corners. "I learned three chords in the '60s, and figured out that you could make money doing that stuff," he says. After escaping from high school, McDonald hit the streets, hitchhiking up and down the West Coast during the peak years of the counter-culture phenomenon. He was then drafted into Vietnam, serving first in an artillery unit, and later, as a drill sergeant, stateside. "There wasn't much deferment for guitar players," he says grimly.
Like so many young draftees at the time, McDonald returned home from the war with "a special taste for cheap wine and narcotics." He hit rock bottom, and by 1972 he was homeless and living on an Indian reservation.
Having been blessed with an almost superhuman determination and resiliency, McDonald turned away from drugs and alcohol, and picked up a guitar. Together with Boston harmonica virtuoso Pat "Hatrack" Gallagher, he started the folk and blues band Ragtime Rodeo. The two came up with an ingenious tour itinerary: drive until they ran out of gas, then pass the hat until they had enough for a cheap hotel room. "It's every amateur guitar player's dream, to pick up that thing and make a go of it," says McDonald. This "Kerouac" existence lasted for two years, and landed them in all kinds of places, all across the country, including opening gigs for John Hammond, Jr. and Waylon Jennings.
Finally, one day, fate came knocking when the orange 1965 Chevy utility wagon finally broke down in Austin, Texas. Looking around at all the great singer/songwriters that Austin is famous for, he decided to hang up his guitar and "pick up a hammer and get to work." "I'm a pretty good entertainer," McDonald asserts, "but I'm a mediocre musician."
After working as a rancher, then as a carpenter's apprentice, he found himself in the world of finance. "I walked into a guy's office and told him to hire me," says McDonald. "I didn't know anything about finance, but I figured I could sell if they gave me the chance."
He quickly rose through the ranks of sales, and in 1986, McDonald started the Austin Asset Management Company, which has grown to manage more than $350 million in assets, and has been listed as one of the top financial advisory firms in the US by Worth magazine, Medical Economics, and Bloomberg Wealth Manager.
Recently, McDonald came full circle, back to music, but from a completely different angle. He started by joining the board of the Austin Lyric Opera as a way to network with prospective clientele for his business, but then stumbled on an organization that he feels truly passionate about: the Austin Classical Guitar Society, and its talented artistic director, Dr. Matthew Hinsley.
Hinsley was one the first graduates from the Oberlin Conservatory with a degree in classical guitar performance. At Oberlin he founded and led a student organization to bring in guitarists to perform and give master classes for the fledgling program. When he moved to Austin to pursue a graduate degree in 1996, Hinsley discovered the Austin Classical Guitar Society (ACGS), and became involved in growing the organization. "The guitar society at the time had about $500 in the bank," he says. "It was run more like a club than like a community service organization." After Hinsley became involved, the ACGS went from an annual operating budget of around $5,000 to about $100,000 in 2006, when McDonald joined the effort.
McDonald found Hinsley and the ACGS almost completely by accident. On July 16, 2006, McDonald went to a guitar concert at a church with his wife. At first, he was not impressed ("I was about to fall asleep," he says), but when world famous classical guitarist Elliot Fisk walked on the stage, McDonald became very interested in what was going on at the ACGS. After the show, he immediately approached Hinsley. "How come nobody knows about this?" McDonald asked. "There are 400 people here; there should be 4,000! Get me on your board of directors."
McDonald's timing was impeccable, because the board of directors was talking about cutting a lot of funding to the program. McDonald, in his gruff, tenacious style, said, "Now hold on a minute, everyone needs to reach into their pockets and put $1,000 in the pot. Let's get to work!" Naturally, a few members resigned, but McDonald had resources at hand to make up for the loss. "My wife had been a city council member," he explains. She became passionate about Hinsley's cause and said, "Okay, grab my list, let's invite everyone we know."
They packed their home to capacity, and, reminiscent of a Wild West stick-up, said: "Nobody's getting out of here until you give us 50 bucks!"
Since McDonald joined the ACGS board of directors, its annual operating budget has gone from $100,000 to around $500,000 today. "He has been a transformative force for the organization," says Hinsley, "and instrumental in building our board of directors."
In addition to putting on concerts, the ACGS is heavily involved in education at all levels, from designing curricula for public schools to providing a forum for amateur adult guitarists to meet and form ensembles. Hinsley explains, "Everything we do is driven from the standpoint of how classical guitar can meet the needs of the community." This past June, the ACGS outdid itself when it hosted the 2010 Guitar Foundation of America Convention, which featured many top players from around the world, including the L.A. Guitar Quartet and Pepe Romero.
Many years ago, McDonald pushed aside his dream of being in the spotlight, when his car broke down in Austin. With nothing but his overwhelming drive and resourcefulness, he has gone from hitting rock bottom to founding and running his own successful business. Now, as a major driving force behind the ACGS, he has had the opportunity to be involved in music in a way that he never would have imagined.
"There are people, like Matthew Hinsley, who recognize the fact that there are things happening right here in Austin that are making this the guitar center of the world," says McDonald. "To be a part of that is more then I could ever ask for."
McDonald never completely gave up the dream. Though he doesn't ramble around the country in a '65 Chevy wagon anymore, he does play around town, entertaining a loyal following of fellow board members, and he also continues to grow as a musician by taking regular lessons.
Jason Borisoff is a ramblin' guitar picker at heart. Keep a look out for him, and be generous with your tips!
