"Soulful voice,

burning harp

and a

first-rate

performer."

- Stormin' Norman Casler, The CFOX Sunday Blues

Sherman “TANK” Doucette has lived and breathed The Blues for 50 years.

A Powerhouse

Soulful Singer &

Harmonica Virtuoso

Songwriter & Recording Artist

Rated as one of the Best Bluesman in the Business.

Sherman Doucette is a celebrated blues harmonica player and vocalist

with a career spanning over five decades.

With numerous accolades and a dedicated following, his performances are known

for their authenticity and commitment to and love for his chosen genre.

Tank Drawing Combo.jpg — **A 30 year staple of the Vancouver music scene from 1969 to 1999**
*• Jam Host / House Band for the famous Yale Hotel for several years*
*• Hohner Harmonica endorser for 19 years*

Sherman now calls the Okanagan home and is keeping the blues alive with his band Tankful of Blues.

LIVE

2024 TOUR DATES:

EVERY 3RD THURSDAY - SCHOOL OF BLUES – ROTARY CENTRE FOR THE ARTS - KELOWNA, BC 7:15 TILL 9PM

SATURDAY FEB 24 - SONG SPARROW HALL - CELEBRATE SHUSWAP - SALMON ARM, BC 7:30PM (WITH RUSSELL JACKSON)

NEWS

Celebrate Shuswap

Song Sparrow Hall With Russell Jackson

BLUE FROG STUDIOS WITH STEVE KOZAK!

CALGARY BLUES FESTIVAL 2022!

School of Blues

Our way of giving back to our community sharing our music & stories.

Sherman "TANK" Doucette

& Special Guests

Rotary Centre for the Arts Kelowna, BC

Every 3rd Thursday @ 7:15pm

Learn more

“Sherman Doucette has a classic blues voice;

it’s deep, gruff, gravely and oozes soul.”

- Bob Colebrook, The Whistler Answer.

More Reviews

“There’s only one Tank in the blues world.

Doucette is the real deal and has the scars and badges to prove it - sharing the stage with blues legends such as John Lee Hooker / Albert Collins / Long John Baldry & many more. A Tank full of energy mixing Blues classics and original songs with the passion and conviction few can deliver.

Anyone who has seen him perform will agree he puts on an unforgettable show!”

LISTEN

CLICK HERE FOR MORE MUSIC

BIO

Sherman “Tank” Doucette grew up surrounded by music.

Born and raised in the small Canadian city of North Battleford,Saskatchewan, he recalls the sounds of His Dad on Guitar or Banjo, His Brother on Guitar, His Mom, Sisters and Aunts Dancing and Singing along, And his Grandfather Giggin’ and Jiggin’ on the Harmonica.

Dad on Banjo, cousin Lionel on Guitar, Tank on Harp.

“My grampa played harmonica and fiddle.
He played French jigs, where they dance with their feet,
and even though they’re sitting down they’re Jiggin’.

He had such good rhythm; I’d sit on his lap and he’d keep time with his feet.
And the rhythm went right through me.”

He inherited his grandfather’s harp hand-me-downs, and In the summer of 1969, Doucette and his best bud hitchhiked to Vancouver.

“I didn’t have to leave home,” he says, “it’s just that we had that adventurous spirit.” And so thumbs pointed west, they took to the road.

Once in Vancouver, he played whenever and wherever he could.

“Most were stripper bars,” he says, “but it was a great experience. Some of the emcees were really good, and I picked up stuff from them.”

When he returned home for a visit some years later, his dad sat him down for a “man-to-man” talk.

“He had his Canadian Club, and he bought me a bottle of vodka, and he said, ‘Okay Son, what are you going to be when you grow up?’
And I told him. And he said,
‘Kid, you’re a dreamer’.”

“I didn’t realize that he was a frustrated musician.

He had played in bands in the 1940s, but with seven kids, he had to pack it in so he could support us.

Later he became a fan, and was very supportive.”

Back in Vancouver, things were jumping. “All of the big bands were coming through, and I went to see as many of them as I could. When I was seventeen I went to see John Lee Hooker. I had worked a 24-hour shift on the docks, and I had my ticket to see him at the Commodore Ballroom. The lights were low, and I was starting to fall asleep in my chair when he came on stage and proceeded to take me and twelve hundred other people to another place. I couldn’t believe how much fire and power and energy the blues had.

Jim Byrnes, John Lee Hooker, and the Tank.

“That’s when I realized how it can move an audience. When you see the performer or band, and they’ve got the audience ― that’s the moment we all live for.”

Years later, he would play with Hooker on five different occasions ― the highlight, he says, of his career.

Over the next five years, Doucette continued to perform around the city, supplementing his income at a local lumber mill. Things were rockin’ along until one April day in 1977, when everything changed.

with the flick of a switch, Doucette literally got the shock of his life.

He says he remembers walking into a paint shed, where, unbeknownst to him, there was a buildup of fumes on the ceiling.

“When I flicked the switch on it ignited the fumes, and the building blew up. I was the only one in it at the time. It changed my life.”

Two months later he awoke from a coma to find himself in the burn ward of a Vancouver hospital, fifty percent of his body covered in third-degree burns. He would spend another four months in the hospital healing from the ravages of those burns, and putting in some hard time learning to walk again, after lying still for so long.

The fact that he had beaten the odds and survived earned him the nickname

“Sherman Tank”

“Music Saved Me.

As soon as I got out of the hospital my musician friends started calling to have me sit in with them, and then they hired me.
And I went back to playing music.
And every time I got sidetracked ― too much fun at a party ― I’d say,
‘I just want to play music. I’ve done my share of partying;
it’s business now.’
I was twenty-three.”

Through his storied career, Sherman Doucette has shared the stage with blues legends such as John Lee Hooker / Albert Collins / Long John Baldry / Powder Blues Band / Pinetop Perkins / Jim Byrnes James Cotton / Gordie Johnson / John Primer / & m… — Through his storied career, Sherman Doucette has shared the stage with blues legends such as John Lee Hooker / Albert Collins / Long John Baldry / Powder Blues Band / Pinetop Perkins / Jim Byrnes James Cotton / Gordie Johnson / John Primer / & many more.

After a short stint with the Water hole All-Stars he joined the Grand Slam Blues Band, which was heavily into soul music. Playing along with the horn players, he wanted to pick their brains and learn from them.

“I didn’t want to just play the harmonica like everyone else. You live to get that tone, but once you get it, you try to get your own style.”

BACK ON HIS FEET, HE FORMED HIS OWN BAND ‘INCOGNITO’,ONE OF THE HOTTEST & HARDEST WORKING BANDS IN VANCOUVER’S BLUES SCENE from 1981 to 1999.

**Sherman ‘TANK’ Doucette - INCOGNITO’s “Secret Weapon” & the true driving force behind the name.**

**INCOGNITO 1981 - Tank, Ricky McDonald, J.B., Bobby Regan.**

The Band warmed up the Commodore Ballroom stage for notable acts such as Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Roy Buchanan, Omar & The Howlers, and more.

**INCOGNITO 1982 - Robbie Roe, Tank, Bob McMinn, Muddy Fraser.**

After recording 3 independent albums and extensive touring across Western Canada, sherman left vancouver for kelowna.

“My wife and I had a daughter.
She turned five, and the big city was just too scary,” he explains.
“My wife’s parents lived five hours East in Kelowna, a way better place to raise her.”

Once there, he formed a band that would become known as Sherman Doucette and ‘Tankful of Blues’.

“We play upbeat music,” he says, “Sonny Terry and all the older blues stuff, and keep ’em dancin’.”

“…CONSIDERABLE SKILLS AND BOUNDLESS ENERGY.

A FORCE ON THE CANADIAN BLUES SCENE, AND ONE OF THE LONG-TIME SPARKPLUGS OF THE INTERIOR’S ROOTS MUSIC SCENE.

IF YOU’VE NEVER CAUGHT UP TO THIS LIFELONG BLUESMAN, TRACK DOWN COPIES OF HIS LATEST ALBUMS ‘BLOWIN’ THROUGH TOWN’ AND ‘HARP AND SOUL’ AND YOU’LL BE INSPIRED TO CATCH UP WITH SHERMAN AT A COUPLE OF HIS FESTIVAL PIT STOPS.”

— Salmon Arm ROOTS and BLUES Festival

Doucette also works as a hired gun & studio musician, backing artists and performing on commercials for the likes of Labatt Beer, McDonalds and Growers Cider. He’s also appeared on CBC and CTV and hosted a number of Vancouver’s blues rooms.

When he’s not performing, he’s collecting, amassing a staggering number of antique harmonicas.

The collection took root in the early 1980s,

when a fellow musician gave him what would become the first of many.

“He had a beautiful bass harmonica that was made in 1910,” he recalls, “And he gave it to me. And I was just blown away.”

Seven hundred diatonics, chromatics, crank and “weird shaped” harmonicas later, along with a dazzling display of vintage cases and displays, Doucette is short on room, but long on enthusiasm. To say that he’s got rhythm is an understatement.

Biography By Jaine Rodack for Harmonica.Com

VIDEO

http://www.streamingcafe.net Sherman (Tank) Doucette, harmonica player, vocalist and songwriter from Kelowna,BC. Sherman "Tank" has performed with the some of the best bands in Vancouver. On numerous occasions he had the great privilege of sharing the stage with such greats as legendary players as John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, Sony Land Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Jim Byrnes and Long John Baldry.

❛Astoundingly Acoustic Concert ❜ ⑩ Sherman ❛Tank❜ Doucette on sparkleTV ! Here's the whole story. Tank lays down his take on 'Little Walter' Jacobs' ❝I Just Keep on Lovin' Her❞ and gets some all-star quality help from Rick Fines, Jack de Keyzer, Paul Deslauriers, Erin McCallum & Bill Hicks.

CBC TV On the Road Again Featured with Wayne Rostad - Aired Oct. 10Th 1997 - a three day shoot Vancouver at the Yale Hotel - Gastown - was great fun.

Sherman "TANK" Doucette performing an original song Harp & Soul with Charlie Jacobson / Guitar - Russell Jackson / Bass - John Modder / Drums in Kamloops at Riverside Park 2016

Nothin' but a party going on - lowdown funky blues

Recorded on the final morning of the 25th Annual Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Music Festival, at the CBC Blues Stage Sun. Aug. 20, 2017 (10:20 - 11:15 am); hosted by Chris Walker of CBC Radio One's current affairs morning show "Daybreak South" in Kelowna, covering BC's Southern Interior.

Driftin' & Driftin" has been played and recorded by many artists, since becoming one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s.

Sherman Doucette - Singer-Songwriter / Harmonica Cole Leaver / Guitar Grant Jones / Bass & vocals John Modder / Drums "

Watch more @ http://www.streamingcafe.net Graham Ord and Band will host an evening of Blues featuring special guests from the local Blues scene. Special Guests will include Sherman Doucette, John Lee Sanders, Teena Rae Gowdy and Norm Strauss.

Big dance highlight of the evening! Everyone gets their licks in on this one. Sherman 'Tank' Doucette, Brandon Isaak, Jack de Keyzer, Paul Deslauriers, Rick Fines, David Vest, Denis Coulombe & Billy Hicks. Worth a repeat watch or two.

Some groovy clips from the Passion Bowl show held on August 11, 2018 featuring the hot blues music of Sherman Doucette and some original tunes from local singer-songwriter, Linz Kenyon. A Shuswap Passion production by Jim Cooperman, see shuswappassion.ca.

Blues Jam with the "TANK" song Two to Tangle Sherman Doucette lead vocals / Harmonica Audio recording by Charlie Jacobson / Guitar - Graham Ord / Slide Guitar - Granite Jones / Bass - Dylan Logan Ranney / Drums - video recording by Adam Meachem - cheers

Harmonica player / collector aired on VU13 March 31 1995

Sherman Doucette, Kelowna BC Canada blues fest, 2005. featuring "Papa Dawg" Rick Halisheff, guitar, Andy Graffiti, drums. Grant Jones, Bass. for more info visit http://shermandoucette.com

Filmed in Tank’s backyard in 2011 for OK Music BC.

REVIEWS

``The blues are alive and well

in the hands of Sherman Doucette,

who is ready to rain down

the power of the blues on you and yours.``

- Shelley Gummeson, Earshot Magazine

"...he lifts you out of your seat,

and you start moving your feet

until your whole body's shaking

and you've lost control."

- Kevin Gilles, The Voice

"Doucette's vocals are soulful,

gritty and powerful..."

- Penny Campbell, The Canadian Music Magazine

"Doucette's harmonica carved grooves

in the part of my brain that

gets high on music."

Kathryn Wellner - This Gives Me Hope Blog

“…Considerable skills and boundless energy. A force on the Canadian blues scene, and one of the long-time sparkplugs of the interior’s roots music scene.

If you’ve never caught up to this lifelong bluesman, track down copies of his latest albums ‘Blowin’ Through Town’ and ‘Harp and Soul’ and you’ll be inspired to catch up with Sherman at a couple of his festival pit stops.”

- Salmon Arm ROOTS and BLUES Festival

"You don't have to prowl

Vancouver's smoky blues hang-outs

to hear local blues-rockers Incognito.

all you need to do is turn on your radio."

- Steve Newman, The Georgia Straight.

"While the members are all

polished journeymen players,

Sherman Doucette's

confident vocal delivery

makes the most lasting impression."

Peter North, The Edmonton Sun

`"Sherman Doucette has a classic blues voice.

it's deep, gruff, gravely and oozes soul.

From rocky numbers like ‘Hot Blues and Cold Beer’

to moaners like ‘Drivin’ Wheel’,

Doucette wails with the best of them."

- Bob Colebrook, The Whistler Answer

"Soulful voice,

burning harp and a

first rate performer."

- Stormin' Norman Casler, The CFOX Sunday Blues

"Doucette is a powerhouse singer and a great harp player."

- Bob Colebrook, Nite Moves Vancouver

"The grit in his voice and the joyful,

sometimes haunting sound of his harp

can cause the hair on your arms

to stand up and

your body will follow suit."

- Shelley Gummeson, !Earshot

"Soulful voice,

burning harp

and a

first-rate

performer."

Sherman “TANK” Doucette has lived and breathed The Blues for 50 years.

A Powerhouse

Soulful Singer &

Harmonica Virtuoso

Songwriter & Recording Artist

Rated as one of the Best Bluesman in the Business.

Sherman Doucette is a celebrated blues harmonica player and vocalist

with a career spanning over five decades.

With numerous accolades and a dedicated following, his performances are known

for their authenticity and commitment to and love for his chosen genre.

LIVE

2024 TOUR DATES:

EVERY 3RD THURSDAY - SCHOOL OF BLUES – ROTARY CENTRE FOR THE ARTS - KELOWNA, BC 7:15 TILL 9PM

SATURDAY FEB 24 - SONG SPARROW HALL - CELEBRATE SHUSWAP - SALMON ARM, BC 7:30PM (WITH RUSSELL JACKSON)

NEWS

Celebrate Shuswap

Song Sparrow Hall With Russell Jackson

BLUE FROG STUDIOS WITH STEVE KOZAK!

CALGARY BLUES FESTIVAL 2022!

School of Blues

Sherman "TANK" Doucette

& Special Guests

Rotary Centre for the Arts Kelowna, BC

Every 3rd Thursday @ 7:15pm

“Sherman Doucette has a classic blues voice;

it’s deep, gruff, gravely and oozes soul.”

LISTEN

BIO

Sherman “Tank” Doucette grew up surrounded by music.

Born and raised in the small Canadian city of North Battleford,Saskatchewan, he recalls the sounds of His Dad on Guitar or Banjo, His Brother on Guitar, His Mom, Sisters and Aunts Dancing and Singing along, And his Grandfather Giggin’ and Jiggin’ on the Harmonica.

He inherited his grandfather’s harp hand-me-downs, and In the summer of 1969, Doucette and his best bud hitchhiked to Vancouver.

“I didn’t have to leave home,” he says, “it’s just that we had that adventurous spirit.” And so thumbs pointed west, they took to the road.

Once in Vancouver, he played whenever and wherever he could.

“Most were stripper bars,” he says, “but it was a great experience. Some of the emcees were really good, and I picked up stuff from them.”

When he returned home for a visit some years later, his dad sat him down for a “man-to-man” talk.

“I didn’t realize that he was a frustrated musician.

He had played in bands in the 1940s, but with seven kids, he had to pack it in so he could support us.

Later he became a fan, and was very supportive.”

Years later, he would play with Hooker on five different occasions ― the highlight, he says, of his career.

Over the next five years, Doucette continued to perform around the city, supplementing his income at a local lumber mill. Things were rockin’ along until one April day in 1977, when everything changed.

with the flick of a switch, Doucette literally got the shock of his life.

He says he remembers walking into a paint shed, where, unbeknownst to him, there was a buildup of fumes on the ceiling.

The fact that he had beaten the odds and survived earned him the nickname

“Sherman Tank”

After a short stint with the Water hole All-Stars he joined the Grand Slam Blues Band, which was heavily into soul music. Playing along with the horn players, he wanted to pick their brains and learn from them.

BACK ON HIS FEET, HE FORMED HIS OWN BAND ‘INCOGNITO’,ONE OF THE HOTTEST & HARDEST WORKING BANDS IN VANCOUVER’S BLUES SCENE from 1981 to 1999.

The Band warmed up the Commodore Ballroom stage for notable acts such as Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Roy Buchanan, Omar & The Howlers, and more.

After recording 3 independent albums and extensive touring across Western Canada, sherman left vancouver for kelowna.

Once there, he formed a band that would become known as Sherman Doucette and ‘Tankful of Blues’.

“We play upbeat music,” he says, “Sonny Terry and all the older blues stuff, and keep ’em dancin’.”

Doucette also works as a hired gun & studio musician, backing artists and performing on commercials for the likes of Labatt Beer, McDonalds and Growers Cider. He’s also appeared on CBC and CTV and hosted a number of Vancouver’s blues rooms.

When he’s not performing, he’s collecting, amassing a staggering number of antique harmonicas.

The collection took root in the early 1980s,

when a fellow musician gave him what would become the first of many.

Seven hundred diatonics, chromatics, crank and “weird shaped” harmonicas later, along with a dazzling display of vintage cases and displays, Doucette is short on room, but long on enthusiasm. To say that he’s got rhythm is an understatement.

Biography By Jaine Rodack for Harmonica.Com﻿

VIDEO

REVIEWS

``The blues are alive and well

in the hands of Sherman Doucette,

who is ready to rain down

the power of the blues on you and yours.``

"...he lifts you out of your seat,

and you start moving your feet

until your whole body's shaking

and you've lost control."

"Doucette's vocals are soulful,

gritty and powerful..."

"Doucette's harmonica carved grooves

in the part of my brain that

gets high on music."

“…Considerable skills and boundless energy. A force on the Canadian blues scene, and one of the long-time sparkplugs of the interior’s roots music scene.

If you’ve never caught up to this lifelong bluesman, track down copies of his latest albums ‘Blowin’ Through Town’ and ‘Harp and Soul’ and you’ll be inspired to catch up with Sherman at a couple of his festival pit stops.”

"You don't have to prowl

Vancouver's smoky blues hang-outs

Biography By Jaine Rodack for Harmonica.Com