ONTARIO’S COUNTRY PIONEERS: ROY PENNEY (#87 in the Ontario’s Country Pioneers series) by Larry Delaney Guitar picker extraordinaire, ROY PENNEY was born in Corner Brook, NL. He met with the legendary Dick Nolan and the pair made their way to Toronto during the mid 1960s, where they teamed-up with fellow Maritimers Johnny Burke and Bunty Petrie to form “The Blue Valley Boys”. The act became a popular country club fixture in Toronto, with their music captured on the album, “On Stage At The Drake”. During the 1970s, the group moved on to become the house band at the famous Horseshoe Tavern, where they backed all the hot touring acts of the time. Many mainline acts from Nashville left their tour bands at home, thanks […]

// by Larry Delaney // (#86 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) PRAIRIE OYSTER was one of Canadian Country music’s most popular groups during the 1990s, scoring a number of nationally charted hit singles, best-selling albums, and a barrel full of awards. The band had its early roots in Ontario with original members Russell DeCarle, Keith Glass and steel guitarist Dennis Delorme coming from various Country and Bluegrass bands, most notably, The King City Slickers. Russell DeCarle performed in house bands on the TV show, “Sounds Good Country” (co-hosted by Carroll Baker and Tim Daniels), as well as the “George Hamilton IV” TV Show. Keith Glass spent early years as the lead guitar player for Sneezy Waters in his stage show, “Hank Williams: The […]

// by Larry Delaney // (#85 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) Family Brown, an Ottawa Valley-based group, achieved a level of success that has gone unmatched in the Canadian Country music industry. Their trophy shelf is filled with Juno Awards, “Big Country” and Canadian Country Music awards and CMAOntario’s prestigious Impact Award, among many other accolades. During the 1980s, they were named CCMA’s Group Of The Year on seven occasions. The Family Brown act was assembled in 1968 by Joe Brown. He had performed for years; first, as a member of the Nova Scotia-based “Hillbilly Jewels” and later, heading-up the Ottawa Valley group, “The Happy Wanderers”. As several of his talented children showed special interest in music, he formed the act with son Barry […]