JR and the Bad OX Band

JR and the Bad OX Band is the brainchild of John Rewers.
John started his musical journey at the age of 16 when he received a guitar as a
Christmas present from his parents. Not a lot of music teachers back in those days in
the little town of Kitimat, so John taught himself a few chords and a few Beatles songs.
At the age of 19 it was time to head out into the big bad world and that old guitar was
left at home, in the closet, for decades. He tried to resurrect his music interests a
couple of times in the following years but to no avail. Then in 2011, when sitting with a
bunch of friends in the Cold River at the Merritt Music Festival, John noticed a group of
musicians, also sitting in the river…… but playing their guitars.
That was the AH HA moment for John. He said “SO COOL” to himself along with….
“Next year I’m in. I’ll be playing with those fellas next year”. So, at the age of 61, John
headed home, pulled that old guitar out of his closet and started this new career in
music. And sure enough, the next year in Merritt he sat in and sang a couple of Willie
Nelson songs. Since 2011 there has been an incredible amount of learning and
experience gained, resulting in a trip to Nashville to record some original music, much of
which will be released on streaming platforms in the coming months.
Part of this learning was putting together the band known as JR & the Bad OX Band.
JR and the Bad OX Band has performed at the Sooke community Canada Day festival,
BC County Music awards weekend (2025), the Vancouver Island Exhibition and so
many others, playing 40 to 50 gigs per year.
John will always be looking ahead with dreams of playing at the Calgary Stampede and
at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville.
And remember. It is never to late to start following your dreams. You never know……