Johnny C. Matlock was born and raised in Arkansas where he attended Harding University and graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in 1990. In 1988, he received his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music where he was a Graduate Teaching Assistant to Dr. Eph Ehly. He completed the Master of Arts degree in 1991 from Harding Graduate School of Theology.

During his 30 plus years as a music educator, Matlock has taught both at the high school (22 years) and middle school level (8 years). His choirs have performed at the KMEA In-Service workshop at the middle and high school level. He retired from the choral director position at Hays High School in 2018 to launch Studio 809, a piano and voice studio, in downtown Hays. He maintains membership in the National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Directors Association, and National Association for Music Education. In July 2020, he was honored by the Kansas Choral Directors Association with the Harry Robert Wilson Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the choral art.

He loves teaching music and life with his wife Sherri, daughter Jordan and son-in law, Jay, and daughter Shelby and husband Micah. When he is not teaching he is playing with his two grandchildren Bo and Rhen