December 6, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#79 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) KEN REYNOLDS The late KEN REYNOLDS was largely a “behind-the-scenes” personality in the Canadian Country Music world… but he certainly played a role that deserved top billing. Ken Reynolds was instrumental in the success of music legends Wilf Carter, Don Messer, The Happy Wanderers… and much more. Ken Reynolds was born August 9, 1929, in Brownsburg, Quebec. As a youngster, his family relocated to Leitrim, Ontario, in the Ottawa Valley; and while in his teens, he became a talented square dance caller. In the early 1950s, Ken acquired an entertainment booking license and became the exclusive booking agent and tour manager for the legendary Wilf Carter (Montana Slim), acquiring over 300 show […]
January 12, 2022
// by Larry Delaney // (Born: February 26, 1941 – Froomfield [Sarnia], Ontario) (Died: December 31, 2020 – Sarnia, Ontario) (#59 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) Jimmy Phair was born February 26, 1941, in Froomfield (near Sarnia, Ontario). He received his first guitar – made from a cigar box – at age four and has never looked back. By the time he was 14, he was guesting on his first radio show, aired out of Marine City, Michigan. Soon afterwards, he was appearing regularly on his hometown radio station CHOK, which led to the hosting of his own radio show on the station. In 1962, Phair took his live show on the road, touring extensively in Ontario, Quebec and into the USA. He often shared […]
December 17, 2021
// by Larry Delaney // (Born: February 6, 1955 – North Bay, Ontario) (#58 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) Randall Prescott is in the middle of a rare Canadian country music generational family tree: his father is Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Famer, Irwin Prescott; Randall is himself a multiple Hall of Fame inductee; and more recently, Randall and his wife Tracey Brown (of Family Brown) celebrate with great pride the emergence of their daughter, Kelly Prescott, on the Canadian music scene. That’s three generations of music-makin’ Prescotts. Randall Isaac Prescott was born in North Bay, Ontario. He and brother Ron Prescott followed their father Irwin Prescott when he relocated to Ottawa in 1971. Irwin Prescott founded and operated the famous Golden Rail club […]
November 9, 2021
// by Larry Delaney // (Born: March 20, 1937 – London, Ontario) (#57 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) Tommy Hunter has affectionately been dubbed “The Country Gentleman”, thanks largely to a legion of fans he developed through his 27 years of hosting “The Tommy Hunter TV Show” on CBC-TV (1965- 1992). Many of the faithful who followed him on the television show also attended his concerts during his almost-annual tours across Canada. The TV show was unceremoniously cancelled by CBC after 27 years, to the dismay of his fans, who petitioned the CBC for its return, to no avail. Several seasons of the show were also televised on The Nashville Network. At its peak in Canada, the show was drawing a weekly audience in excess […]