Ontario’s Country Music Pioneers:
Prairie Oyster

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 Show He Never Gave,” while Joan Besen played piano for Sylvia Tyson (1978-1982) and was part of Sylvia Tyson’s “Country In My Soul” TV Show. Dennis Delorme paid his dues playing steel guitar with Ian & Sylvia Tyson’s Great Speckled Bird band and for The Good Brothers.

In the early 1980s, they teamed up with fiddler John P. Allen and drummer John Adames, releasing a debut album, “Oyster Tracks”, in 1986, on the Stony Plain Records label. The project yielded the singles “Rain, Rain”, “Man In The Moon”, and “Play Me Some Honky Tonk Music”, all of which led to a record deal with major label BMG Music Canada.

Prairie Oyster followed up that initial success with a series of hit-filled albums. Their next seven singles were all Top 20 hits, including such notables as “Goodbye, So Long, Hello”, “I Don’t Hurt Anymore”, “Did You Fall In Love With Me”, “One Precious Love”, and more. During this time, Bruce Moffet, formerly of the Corey Hart band, had become Prairie Oyster’s drummer.

Many of the songs recorded by Prairie Oyster were original compositions by Russell DeCarle, Keith Glass and Joan Besen; some were collaborations by all three, others written individually. The “Goodbye, So Long, Hello” and “One Way Track” hits were co-written by Russell DeCarle with the late Willie P. Bennett, a friend and mentor of the band.

By 1994, the group was in its prime, being named CCMA’s Entertainers of the Year – an honour that had traditionally been held by solo artists. During the 1990s, they were named Group Of The Year six times. The Prairie Oyster single, “Goodbye, So Long, Hello”, earned Single Of The Year in 1990. Their album, “Everybody Knows”, was named Album Of The Year in 1992. Joan Besen’s composition, “Did You Fall In Love With Me”, won Song Of The Year honours, also in 1992.

During their prime years, Prairie Oyster walked away with five Juno Awards as Country Group Of The Year. They also placed three singles on the Billboard Charts in Nashville.

Additional musicians who have performed with the group at various times include: drummer Bohdan Hluszko (Michelle Josef), drummer Charlie Cooley, fiddler Michael Ball, Mike Dasti, Ben Mink, and Dennis Keldie.

Following the closure of the Prairie Oyster band, three members – Russell DeCarle, Keith Glass and John P. Allen – have each released solo albums, filled with their own original songs. Keith Glass also now heads up his own alt/country group, popular in the Ottawa Valley.

Prairie Oyster was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

(For the record… a “Prairie Oyster” is a drink concoction of a raw egg, some Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and a choice of liquor. The band’s music sounds better than the beverage!