When it comes to music, John Antich is what you might call an uber-fan. At the ripe young age of 75, he attends more than 100 concerts every year. The vast majority are by local artists no one has ever heard of outside of a small but creatively dynamic music community in Southern California. One of John’s favorite artists calls him the patron saint of singer-songwriters.

He’s part cheerleader. Part critic. And part pied piper. All in all, he’s a champion of the music he likes (mostly American roots music — especially roots rock, country, Tex-Mex, folk, and psychedelia) and the musicians who make that music. He’s been known to send random unannounced checks for $500 here, $1,000 there to musicians who need some help paying a band, funding an album, or playing a gig where they’d normally earn next to nothing. The house concerts John stages in his quintessential California backyard in Rancho Palos Verdes — capacity: 80 — have become the talk of the town.

He’s not bashful about reaching out and convincing noted artists to feel the magic of the compact wooden stage he calls “Jacaranda Veranda.” Mary Gauthier, John Doe, Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill, the Minus 5 (featuring Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck), Steve Wynn, The Beat Farmers, Rosie Flores and Jim Lauderdale have all been persuaded by John to be part of his Jacaranda Veranda summer music series, which is twelve years strong now. He always augments the shows with performances by local under-the-radar musicians he champions to his patrons.

He's taken his passion to another level with Jacaranda Records. And just as John always approaches things with his signature contrarian approach, his record label also bucks expectations by featuring only two critically-acclaimed artists: John Surge & the Haymakers and David Serby.

Surge and Serby are two of John’s favorite local artists. They’ve had limited national exposure, which John hopes to expand with his passion, support and financial backing. He’s the first to admit that, at his age, he’s starting to think about his legacy and the L.A. music scene. That’s why he launched Jacaranda Records — to put his stamp on albums that will last into perpetuity.

“These two singer-songwriters have released some of my favorite albums over the last few years,” John says. “I want to support them and give them a vehicle to release more music in today’s challenging music industry and bring more attention to great L.A. music I think should be heard on the national scene.”