John Witmer

John Witmer
John Witmer (second from right) with The BelAirs (later The Fabricators), circa 1990.
Background information
Birth name	John Douglas Witmer
Born	February 1951
Died	July 3, 2004 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer, harmonica player, songwriter
Instruments	Harmonica
Years active	1969 – 2002
Associated acts	Whiskey Howl Downchild Blues Band The BelAirs The Fabricators
Notable instruments
Harmonica

John Douglas Witmer (February, 1951 – July 3, 2004) was a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, most notable as the lead vocalist for the band Whiskey Howl and the Downchild Blues Band.

Described as "one of Toronto's great blues singers from the late '60s to the mid-'80s", with "a raspy vocal style", John Witmer co-founded the seminal Canadian blues band, Whiskey Howl in 1969, when he was eighteen years old. The Toronto-based Whiskey Howl, along with the Downchild Blues Band, also formed in 1969, were two of the principal influences in the development of Canadian blues music.

One of Witmer's first professional engagements with Whiskey Howl was as one of the acts playing at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969. This was a one-day festival, featuring an historic appearance by John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band, and which resulted in the release of the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

Despite the early success and promise of Whiskey Howl, the band broke up as of 1972, shortly after the release of their first album. Witmer continued to sing locally through the balance of the 1970s, rejoining Whiskey Howl for a reunion concert that resulted in the band's second album release, Live At The El Mocambo, in 1981.

Between 1982 and 1986, Witmer was the lead singer of the Downchild Blues Band, one of three singers who replaced Downchild co-founder Richard "Hock" Walsh, during various periods when Walsh either left the band or was fired as Downchild's lead singer. He recorded one album with Downchild, But I'm On The Guest List (1982), recorded live at Toronto's El Mocambo club, after Downchild had regrouped following the death of band member Jane Vasey.