Stuart Duncan Bastow was born in Newfoundland, Canada. Along with his jazz collective, The Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, he initially rose to fame in Halifax. Throughout the 1990s they played to audiences across Canada, America and Europe, front-lining bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and many more.

Johnny, as he became known, recorded two albums with his Swing Orchestra and two solo albums. These can all be found online and are in order of recordings

The Life Desire; Holiday Romance; Tonight; and Troubadour.

Alcohol and drinking played a significant part in Johnny’s life as he toured year in year out performing 320 shows a year. He reflects that when you “add in alcohol, things are going to be a blur.”

Johnny spent time in Portugal in the early 2000s from where he joined numerous cruise liner tours as a singer, and then one day he found San Miguel de Allende, stayed, and set up his own bar from where live music would flow every evening into the early hours of the morning. Seven years on, Johnny’s body and mind called time on this lifestyle. He quit drinking and closed the bar, and on reflection he believes that,

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it’s connectivity.

And I feel more connected with everything.”

Johnny is Canadian but at root an Irish, Scottish, Norwegian. He doesn’t feel the heat and wearing a kilt seems second nature to him. “Basically I’m a very white guy. I live in Mexico, but I dress like its Canadian September.”

Johnny was inspired from an early age by the music of Frank Sinatra, Donald O’Connor and Duke Ellington. David Bowie came later as did many more. Johnny considered himself a bit of a purist for a long time but now he sings what he likes from jazz to rock and roll and everything else in between. Having lived in San Miguel de Allende for over a decade, he is seeing many changes happening, one of which is the rising numbers of vehicles into the town. He is in the early stages of a pilot project to persuade the Mayor to introduce tuk-tuks into the streets and reduce the number of polluting SUVs and taxis which are grid-locking the narrow cobbled lanes. He admits that San Miguel is a bubble and if you don’t plan to stay, he advises you should visit with an exit strategy in place or you will get charmed into staying.

“San Miguel is the only place as an adult, where you can make friends as you made friends as a kid; my friends here are like family.”

To find out more about Johnny Favourite go to: Facebook: Johnny Favourite and/or Johnny Favourite Musician/Band Page

Tuk-tuk pilot project for San Miguel de Allende: http://catarinatuktuks.com/

Thanks to Café Lula, Jesus 27, San Miguel de Allende for hosting us for the podcast recording. Find them on Facebook for food, drinks and music including Johnny Favourite's next gig.

To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/