Raised in the Midwest, John Louis nurtured a passion for music from a young age, writing and recording his own original songs. In college, he began releasing his original material, starting with the "Catalyst EP" in 2014. Soon, John Louis & the Midwest was formed and "We're All Going to Make It" was released in 2015. With his next endeavor, understatements, John dug deeper into his songwriting and released "Tell Me That I'm Not Alone" in 2016. In his final semester of college, John attended CMC Nashville in Brentwood, TN. Tasked to write and arrange a new song to perform every other week, John quickly wrote much of what would become his debut album. Co-produced with fellow student Benjamin Mariano, "I'll Be Fine" was released in 2020 as the inaugural release on their joint venture, Despicable Records.