Carnival of Soul

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Johnny Kennicott belts out the lyrics, his voice as velvety as it is gravelly. Then he cups his harmonica to the microphone, his rapid-fire riffs emitting a sweet, sultry sound.

It’s the kind of blues that makes your head bob and toes tap. And the more reactive the audience, the more liberating it is for the front man of Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys.

“There’s a freedom to go wherever I want to go,” he says of being on stage. “It’s kind of like jumping off a cliff and free falling, and you don’t have to stop, and you don’t have to be afraid of hitting anything. It’s just complete freedom.”

The analogy is unexpected coming from someone whose freedom was hijacked by a childhood accident. He was 12 when he dove head first into a shallow river, broke his neck and was left a quadriplegic.

Now 35, Johnny is paralyzed from the chest down, including his diaphragm, one of the most important elements in playing the harmonica. With limited use of his hands and arms, getting a grip on the instrument, also called a harp, can be a challenge.

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“Despite this, he trained himself to belt out songs and play the harmonica in such a way that it will give you chills,” says Dawn Hull, a friend and fan. “This kid is such a gift to the Willamette Valley and an inspiration to many.”

His gift and inspiration will be shared with many more when the band performs at the 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. It earned a spot in the prestigious event by winning a 16-band regional competition hosted by the Cascade Blues Association.

‘I play how I’m feeling’

Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys is an up-and-coming band. It won a Muddy Award for best new act in 2018. The awards, presented by the Cascade Blues Association, are named after blues legend Muddy Waters.

The night Johnny accepted the trophy, a bust of Muddy Waters, Curtis Salgado received multiple awards.

While the spotlight always turns on Johnny, he deflects it to his band mates.

Taylor Frazier, a roommate whose assistance around the house and getting to and from gigs is invaluable, is on bass. Johnny also has a regular caregiver who comes to his house in Willamina, where he grew up.

Brandon Logan and Michael Rabe are on guitar. Doug Knoyle is on drums. They all live in Salem.

They describe themselves as more of a classic rock band, with blues and soul influences.

“When I play, I play however I’m feeling, whether I’m happy, sad or mad,” Johnny says.

His influence comes from his father, who had a rock band called EZ Access. His playground growing up was their practice sessions.

His dad bought him his first guitar when he was just a toddler and taught him to play drums around the same time. He learned to play bass before his dad died when he was 6 in an industrial accident on the job.

“I still remember his dreams,” Johnny says. “He wanted to be a rock star.”

“He was a rock star,” Brandon says. “From videos I’ve seen, we have a bit of rock in our blues sound, and that’s Johnny’s dad living through it.”

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They play primarily in the Northwest on weekends, including several blues festivals. Last year, they logged 90 gigs. They’ve already booked 118 this year and sometimes do two on a Saturday.

Johnny manages the band, is the lead vocalist and plays harmonica — its wailing sound a signature of the blues.

Staying positive after paralysis

Johnny’s life changed that summer when he went swimming with friends on the South Yamhill River. He dove in where it was just 3 feet deep.

“I’m definitely the poster child for what moms tell you not to do,” he says. “From the time I was young, I jumped. My accident was completely being a kid, not checking how deep it was, not caring to check.”

He was flown by air ambulance to a Portland hospital, where he was labeled as a C5-C6 quadriplegic and spent months rehabilitating.

He calls it “a very fortunate tragic accident” because no surgery was required.

“Most people have to have a tracheotomy right after because they can’t breathe,” he says.

Johnny had a remarkably positive attitude and outlook from the start, telling doctors and nurses to “put me in a wheelchair so I can start moving around and figure out what I can do.”

His friends good-naturedly started calling him Johnny Wheels. It stuck. 

Without the use of his fingers, he could no longer play guitar. He’d duct tape sticks into his hands and try to play drums, but it wasn’t the same.

Later in his 20s, he taught himself to play harmonica by watching YouTube. He had to come up with his own technique of cupping the instrument because of limited feeling in his hands, and he had to learn how to blow with power because his breathing was weak.

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Much like a human accordion, Johnny scrunches over and pushes as hard as he can to squeeze his diaphragm, although he has no control of his stomach muscles.

“There’s no explanation for what I’m doing,” he says, “except for want of doing.”

Brandon can relate. He has cystic fibrosis, a lung disease that affects how well he sings and how much energy he has on stage on a given day.

“Music is good medicine,” Brandon says. “We use it as a tool. The blues is a good way to release, a good place to vent.”

Movie could give band big push

For Johnny, independence and freedom is important, and he’s lacked both since his van broke down. He has a vehicle he can use, but he needs to be lifted in and out.

Friends reached out to help, starting an online fundraiser in May called “Johnny Needs Wheels.” The hope is to raise $80,000 for a van with an automatic lift.

More than $10,000 has been raised so far. And in October, Jim Belushi is expected to make a plea for the cause at an event he’s hosting.

The actor and musician, who owns property in southern Oregon, befriended Johnny and the band. Belushi is a fellow harmonica player and has invited Johnny to share the stage with him on more than one occasion.

“I feel like a little brother to him,” Johnny says.

Hobnobbing with Belushi and a stint in the upcoming movie “Lorelei,” will help put Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys on the map.

The movie, in post-production, was filmed on location in Oregon and California. They play themselves and perform on stage.

As the band has bolstered its reputation, the wheelchair has become part of its brand because “all eyes are on Johnny,” Taylor says.

Johnny playfully tells audiences he’s the only one who has an excuse for sitting down and that everyone else should be up dancing.

A promo video on YouTube includes this introduction: “Presenting Johnny Wheels, the NW only front man in a wheelchair … “

“I would say if it’s any kind of an advantage, we’ll take it.” Johnny says.

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Preparing for Blues Challenge

The band has a cover album it sells at shows, and some of its music is available on iTunes.

It’s also working on some original material for the International Blues Challenge in January, where it will be one of more than 260 acts judged on blues content, vocals, instrumentation, originality, and stage presence during a five-day competition.

One night a week they jam in a barn-turned-recording-studio on a farm near Sheridan. Pyrate Llama Recording Studio, owned by Jon Dark, offers the analog warmth of vintage gear and the modern fidelity of cutting-edge technology.

Their rich sound reverberates off the 100-year-old wood in a room once used for drying walnuts, shaking the floors and rattling the rafters.

While singing, Johnny wraps his right arm behind his wheelchair, in part to keep steady. The chair is rocking almost as much as the music.

One time he fell out of the chair on stage. The music stopped, the band helped him up, and they resumed the song they were playing as if nothing happened.

During practice at the barn, Johnny uses his left arm to adjust his legs, which suffer painful spasms he can feel down to his feet.

“It does make playing music hard,” he says. “I’m unfortunate I can feel all the stuff I shouldn’t.”

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He fumbles with his left hand to grab one of the seven harmonicas, in keys A through G, in a case on his lap. He’s been known to drop one on occasion.

“You don’t stop,” Johnny says. “I don’t want people to start wondering what’s wrong. Our music is what’s important.”

The Cascade Blues Association is promoting a fundraiser Aug. 25 to help send the band to Memphis. The all-star event will be held at Mekong Bistro in Portland and include appearances by some of the biggest names in Northwest blues circles: Ben Rice, Lisa Mann, Karen Lovely, Rae Gordon and Ty Curtis.

Past acts from the region have fared well at the International Blues Challenge. Curtis (2009), Lovely (2010) and Gordon (2017) each took home prizes from the finals.

“They want us to represent,” Brandon says, “so they’re helping us out.”

“Forward This” taps into the heart of the Mid-Valley — its people, history, and issues. Contact Capi Lynn at clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6710, or follow her on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.

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