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It’s probably a safe bet that Johnny Wheels would chafe if you said that he has a “right” to sing the blues due to his wheelchair-bound status. Regardless of the song, however, and regardless of the genre’s history, the music Wheels and his Swamp Donkey bandmates serve listeners isn’t mired in despair. It is triumphant, instead, and bursting at the seams with the grit and vitality that has always been the genre’s calling card. Furthermore, labeling his music blues and stopping there is a disservice, anyway, as Wheels and his cohorts incorporate myriad voices into their song catalog. Rock, funk, R&B, and soul find their footing throughout the songs on their latest release Keep On Pushin’.
URL: https://johnnywheelsband.com/
The nine song collection opens with a slice of vibrant groove-oriented R&B entitled “On the Run”. Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys take the song on with a cool, confident stride and it emits a palpable aura of warmth from the first note to the last. Interspersing horns into the arrangement is a crowning touch, the song wouldn’t be as good without that final finishing element, and Brandon Logan’s guitar work is especially exemplary.
The second track “George Fisk” is a funkified blues barnburner about a peeping tom. The up-tempo pace never carries itself away with itself and Logan makes his presence felt once again peppering the verses with flurries of creamy guitar notes. Wheels tops his already outstanding vocals for the first track with a second song performance full of vim and vigor. The hard, unadulterated blues of “This Time” soars on the back of Wheels’ outstanding harmonica work. He isn’t blowing just to make a raucous noise; melody comes naturally to his playing and adds immeasurable layers to this performance.
The tasty paean to marijuana “Light Me Up (Hold Me In)” is a perfect live number waiting to happen and the exuberant pacing of the piece contributes mightily to the song’s appeal. Brandon Logan’s guitar playing provides several standout moments and the band deserves kudos for keeping their presentation at a high instrumental level despite the subject matter. Organ and slide guitar help flesh “The Fall” out into one of the finest moments on Keep on Pushin’, but Wheels provides the cherry on top of a delectable musical morsel with an all-around blinding performance.
They conclude the album with another blinder. “Time to Bail (Keep on Pushin’)” is the album’s nominal title track and a perfect illustration of how they build many of their songs for open-ended possibilities on stage. It clocks in at seven and a half minutes of bluesy soul with Wheels joined on vocals by guest singer LaRhonda Steele. Their voices are a near perfect match for this finale. Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys’ Keep on Pushin’ does just that – it is irrepressible, impassioned, and full of enough life that you feel its energy sparking from each of the album’s nine songs. If you have yet to hear Wheels and his bandmates, seek this out today and you won’t be disappointed.
Jennifer Munoz
