In the middle of his music, John Carleton finds a quiet groove. His world slows. The melodies become simpler and the rhythms get tighter.

It’s the feeling he first had when he was 19, sitting behind his drums as a singer belted out the blues.

“I felt the goosebumps go up my back,” Carleton said. “I knew then I had to create or write. I had to do something in music.”

That was 24 years ago, when he was studying music at the University of Maine at Augusta. Since then, Carleton has traveled his own creative journey.

He toured with blues legend Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson. He performed with LaVern Baker, the late Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

It’s far more than he expected.

“I’m from Wilton, Maine.” Carleton said. “I’m the son of a cobbler. I’m blessed.”

He may be further blessed.

The drummer and singer is finishing work on a new blues album. And, he’s preparing for the movies.

Director Martin Guigui has cast him in his upcoming comedy, “National Lampoon’s Cattle Call.” Carleton will sing his own composition in the film, a Sinatra-like ballad titled, “Love Comes Easily, If You Just Let it Come.”

It’s a laid-back title that also describes the 43-year-old musician, who says he’s not trying to be famous or rich.

“I don’t care about money,” Carleton said. “That’s not what I’m about.”

He has always gone his own route. He began playing the drums as a kid. His dad had played jazz saxophone, so John ignored rock ‘n’ roll and played jazz, too.

When he got to college, he was playing the drums in area clubs to all kinds of music, finding that his jazz influence gave him a distinctive groove when it was applied to other genres. By the time he was backing Johnson, traveling to Europe and Asia with the blues master, he had learned to be a background player.

Johnson was discovered by Muddy Waters. He didn’t tolerate showboating drummers.

“I had to learn how to support the artist,” said Carleton. “You get to where you know what he’s going to do before he does it.”

Besides, the music’s never about ego, Carleton said. Mostly, it’s about working with creative people toward a common goal.

That’s what led him to his latest role, as a songwriter for the movies.

Guigui, who has made several low-budget movies, is an old friend and fellow musician. When he took on the newest movie, about a group of young men trying to find girlfriends by pretending to hold auditions for a movie, he called Carleton for a hand.

It became songwriting to order.

“I’d never tried to write like this,” said Carleton. It was tough. But when he relaxed, the words and the music came.

For the film, Carleton will perform the song himself, playing a character called “The Fabulous Johnny C.”

If it brings him some fame, fine. But it’s the work that makes him happy.

“I want to be part of a creative community,” he said. “When I’m creating, I sleep at night. That’s what I really want to do: sleep at night.”