Live On Stage, Inc.
‘The Sounds of Silence Tribute,’ presented by the Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association and Live On Stage, Inc., will perform at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m.

LEWISTOWN — Guitarist John Philippidis woke up groggy from a month-long coma in a hospital room full of strangers. He disregarded his doctor’s orders, urging him to stay in bed as he slowly shuffled off to the bathroom.

As he went to wash his hands, Philippidis instinctively looked up in the mirror and saw a swollen and closed eye, a head the size of a basketball and a face disfigured beyond what he thought could ever be repaired.

“I started laughing,” said Philippidis, who admitted during a 2011 interview with The Associated Press that he didn’t know how else to react.

At the time, he couldn’t remember being attacked by two ex-Marines and a female accomplice, who had beaten him to within an inch of his life and left him for dead during a road rage incident just miles from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Doctors took his rebellious reaction as a good sign – and it was.

“I just remember that feeling of being reminded right there in that moment that you’ve alive. Whatever happened to you, you’re alive,” Philippidis said, who sustained several injuries including broken eye sockets.

The incident took place after a fender bender in 2005. Philippidis got out of his car and was beaten with a blunt instrument by the other driver, who then fled.

Today, the 45-year-old Philippidis, who goes by the stage name “Johnny Philipps,” is feeling more alive than ever. His recovery sparked a reunion with award-winning, folk-rock band Burlap to Cashmere, and after a 12-year hiatus, the band released its second, self-titled album.

Years later, Philippidis and cousin and lead singer Steven Delopoulos have moved on to a new project.

Presented by the Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association and Live on Stage Inc., Philippidis and Delopoulos will perform their brand-new show, “The Sounds of Silence Tribute” at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12.

The tribute show is a throwback to the early 1970s Greenwich Village folk music scene. Taking audiences on a journey back to a time when lyrics and melody meant something more, their show features the music of Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Harry Chapin, Cat Stevens and Don McLain.

“… a memorable evening of phenomenal music,” read one critic’s review.

The show is named after a 1996 album by Simon and Garfunkel. Philippidis is just happy to be back making music.

Philippidis’ recovery was a slow process, aided in large part by Delopoulos, who drove from New Jersey to visit his cousin nearly every weekend. Doctors weren’t certain whether Philippidis would ever play guitar again because of the injuries he suffered.

“Initially I was slow, and I put it down, and didn’t look at it again, and said, ‘Nuh uh. Not gonna do this,'” Philippidis said. “That was depressing me. It was like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.”

Philippidis panicked when doctors tried to reassure him that it would take time for his brain to heal.

Delopoulos understood and didn’t want to push Philippidis back into music before he was ready. The two would play the Xbox video game, “Halo,” and trash talk to each other.

Little by little, Delopoulos began testing out a few song ideas in front of Philippidis, and one day he responded by the two writing the opening lick to a song. It made Philippidis feel, “OK, wait, I can still do this. My hands are still moving.”

Despite the unprovoked brutality of the situation that nearly cost Philippidis his life, he refers to it as the “accident.”

Today, Philippidis has moved on to bigger and better things post- “accident,” including the “Sounds of Silence” show with Delopoulos.

Philippidis looks like a chiseled rock star, shredding guitar onstage in his skinny jeans, fitted shirt and dark sunglasses. There is a C-shaped scar on his buzzed head from a tube doctors inserted to alleviate pressure on his brain.

Philippidis has 13 titanium implants in his face. Doctors replaced his facial orbits, his forehead and jawline. They also had to reconstruct his nose and sinuses.

“I view it as an accident, personally,” Philippidis said. “I think we all do because you can’t really hold on to anything. I’m not really angry. I get to sit here with my cousin and somebody that I grew up with since I’m 11 years old and play music. That anybody claps for our music is the biggest reward you can receive. We’re just happy to be here.”

So are audiences everywhere.

Single tickets for this performance will be available at the door for $25. For more information, call (717) 248-5732 or (717) 667-6551 or visit www.mjconcerts.org.