Local musician gets second chance at life, first chance at stardom
BY SCOTT PAGE Gulf Breeze News scott@gulfbreezenews.com

Jesse Wheeler performs with his band, The Gills. They will open for Sheryl Crow Saturday.

Every day is meaningful for Jesse Wheeler, a 20-year-old local musician. Wheeler, whose parents are from Gulf Breeze, grew up in Meridian, Miss., where he was diagnosed with two types of leukemia at age 15.

"Initially, I was shocked," Wheeler said. "I almost laughed a little bit because I couldn't believe that it could happen to me."

To make things worse, Wheeler was involved in a car accident around the same time and a deadly fungus infected a cut on his elbow.

"I almost died in that too. At first the doctors were more worried about the fungus than the cancer."

At 15, most are ill prepared to handle such adverse and terrifying experiences, but Wheeler says he never panicked.

"It's weird how relaxed I was. I didn't really ever panic or break down. One day when I was walking into the doctor's office to have bone marrow extracted for testing I passed this kid named Brett. He told me not to worry, you're going to be all right. I believe that God, speaking through him, letting me know I was going to make it."

Wheeler, who is one of the most humble 20-year-olds you will ever meet, went on to say that he feels like he is alive because he is meant to accomplish something great. He believes that something is his music.

Wheeler started playing the guitar and writing songs while he was receiving cancer treatments, and he even recorded a CD with his band in Mississippi. Wheeler moved back to Gulf Breeze with his parents in 2005 while still undergoing chemotherapy, and continued writing and playing.

His band, The Gills, is opening for Sheryl Crow Saturday at the Pensacola Civic Center. The current band, whose five members include Wheeler (guitar/vocals), Nathan Dillaha (guitar), Andy Prince (bass), Matt Prince (drums) and Allan Castleberry (keyboard), has only been playing together for close to one month.

The Gills' brand of "oldschool rock with an indie pop twist," is influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Muse and more, pumps out a powerful uplifting message of love and life.

"Our songs are meant to make people smile and enjoy life. We talk about love a lot because that is what everyone is looking for."

It may be too late to get tickets to see Jesse and The Gills at the Civic Center, but they have a music Myspace page with some songs available. The web address is www.myspace.com/somebodygillme. The Gills are also playing a CD release show at Sluggo's on May 17.

It seems that Wheeler's destiny to become an influential musician has been set in motion, and it has validated everything he's gone through to get this far.

"I'm not one to brag, but people come up and tell me how good it [the music] is and it makes me happy because I've worked so hard at it for a couple of years and it's paying off."