As one of the founding members of Grampas Grass, guitarist/vocalist John Malsberger is well known for his songwriting style and his jumbled off the wall crowd banter. With influences ranging from Phish, Led Zeppelin, moe., Neil Young, CCR, and the Allman Bros, his style is a mish-mashed blend of all the sounds that appeals to him. Born and raised in the NorCal valley of Napa, John got his start playing sax in the school band. After picking up the guitar, he had a short stint as a guitarist for the band Captain Tripps before going solo. During college at UC Berkeley, he honed his songwriting skills and first set foot on stage as a "singer songwriter" at an open mic night at The Starry Plow.

Once in SoCal he met Brett Davis in a guitar class at Orange Coast College, and the two set out to form Grampas Grass. The name came from a conversation at a family gathering when John's Grampa (who used to grow xmas trees on his property) was asked what he was going to do with the land on the hill. His answer was,"Ya know, I think I'm gonna grow me some marajuana and call it Grampa's Grass." For some reason the name stuck with John and found its place as the bands title. John also started LazyDog Records in honor of his dog Bodega, who was both an inspiration for his songs and the person who listened to him play the most. In his spare time John manages to teach Kindergarten, be a graphic designer under his alter ego jmals, and eat a lot of mexican food. "It's all about the blackened chicken baby, the blackened chicken!"