Playing Friday at 8pm is Johnny Wheels, a singer / songwriter / harmonica player inspired by the soul of the Pacific Northwest!

Don't miss the 40th Annual Cathedral Park Jazz Festival! Click here to access the Twitch online live streaming of this performance!

The “Swamp Donkeys” are Johnny’s band-mates who are inspired by Johnny to “live a song” on the edge.

The son of a traveling bass player and singer, Johnny “Wheels” Kennicott had music in his blood since birth, but expressing himself musically took on new importance when Johnny broke his neck in a childhood accident, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Though his father’s instrument of choice and his early passion of playing drums were now out due to limited function, Johnny found, through determined trial and error, he could manipulate his paralyzed diaphragm to not only sing, but also blow the harmonica. Since that time,

Johnny has been traveling the Pacific Northwest music scene, spreading the gospel of the blues.

Collectively, the band hails from Oregon, Texas and California and is typically tagged as a Blues band; although, the diversity of the members’ musical backgrounds becomes evident as the worlds of R&B, Soul, Jazz, Funk and Rock are blended under a Blues umbrella.

Members include:

• Johnny Wheels, Vocals, Harmonica
• Brandon Logan, Vocals, Guitar
• Doug Knoyle, Drums
• Michael Rabe, Vocals, Guitar
• Taylor Frazier, Vocals, Bass

Johnny Wheels also uses his full band name, Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys, and that band was a finalist at the 2020 International Blues Challenge (the Journey To Memphis is the local competition whose winner goes on to the IBC in Memphis). So that section of copy could be revised to read:
 
2020 International Blues Challenge finalist Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys;