May 10, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#74 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) Nancy Ryan has enjoyed a long and successful career on the Canadian country music scene as a recording artist, songwriter and performing artist. She is also a professional horse trainer/rider/owner – horses and music top Nancy’s “been there…done that” list. Nancy was born March 13, 1947, in Toronto. On her 10th birthday, the family home burned to the ground… they relocated to Sturgeon Falls and later moved to Timmins. She currently makes her home in Belleville. Nancy Ryan’s first recording, in 1957, was a piano piece – a Mozart sonata in C-Major. It got a little more Country after that… she wrote some early career tunes: “I Told Her”, and […]
April 13, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#73 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) COLIN BUTLER was billed as “Canada’s Young Singing Sensation” – an appropriate title, as, he began performing at age 3; was a special guest at concert and club events by age 5; and by the time he was 12 years of age, had already made guest appearances on The Tommy Hunter TV Show, Family Brown Country TV show, and recorded his first album before he became a teenager. Colin Butler was born New Year’s Eve, 1960, in Lively, Ontario, and as a youngster he spent his early years in Ottawa, where his parents recognized his special talents to sing and entertain audiences. He quickly became a sought-after “child attraction”. He was soon […]
March 15, 2023
Currently, 35% of radio airtime for Popular Music formats in Canada is reserved for recordings that meet the criteria for definition as Canadian Content (popularly known as CanCon). Currently, a recording must embody a minimum of two of the following four elements: M (music): the music is composed entirely by a Canadian A (artist): the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian P (performance): the musical selection consists of a live performance that is recorded wholly in Canada, or performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada L (lyrics): the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian This is commonly referred to as the “Maple System” (MAPL). With multiple writers, if the majority of the combined writing credits are Canadian, it qualifies. The Canadian […]
March 8, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#72 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) WINSTON JAMES began playing guitar and fiddle when he was 12 years of age, at barn dances around his hometown of Sherbrooke, Quebec. He later became a member of the house band on the TV series “Jamboree”, hosted by Dick Curless and broadcast out of Sherbrooke. After relocating to Southern Ontario and making his home base in St. Catharines, James pursued his career with special guest appearances on shows in the Southern Ontario and New York regions, including opening shows for such stars as Buck Owens (in Buffalo, NY); Don Gibson, Faron Young, Kitty Wells and Tammy Wynette (at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-On-The Lake, Ontario); as well as an opening attraction at […]
February 8, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#71 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) Murray McLauchlan and the music he makes cannot be pigeon-holed into one category… he pretty much covers all popular musical genres – Folk, Pop, Rock, Cabaret – and, oh ya, COUNTRY. In fact, his “Farmer’s Song”, and its recording, is about as Country as it gets!! Murray McLauchlan was born June 30, 1948, in Paisley, Scotland. He came to Canada with his family when he was five years old, settling in Toronto. By the time he was in his early teens, he was learning his craft as a singer/songwriter/musician while haunting the coffee house scene in Toronto. After a brief stay in New York, Murray returned to Toronto and in 1970, he […]
January 18, 2023
The Country Music Association of Ontario (CMAOntario) is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors that will consist of a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of thirteen (13) Directors, of which, nine (9) shall be elected and up to four (4) may be appointed at the discretion of the Board. Each elected or appointed Director shall serve for a period of two years. A Director may serve an unlimited number of duly elected or appointed terms. To maintain governance continuity, seat vacancies on the Board are alternated each calendar year; only a portion of the seats on the Board will be available for each election. Existing Directors who are not running for re-election will serve as the Nomination Approval Committee for all nominees. All Directors must be over […]
January 17, 2023
// by Larry Delaney // (#70 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) Ronald (Ron) James Harry McLeod was born in Hamilton in 1933. Music always played a large part in his life. At age 15, he won a Gold Award playing the accordion at the Waterloo Music Festival. He was first discovered by Canadian dance band leader Slim Gordon, who hired Ron as an accordion player for his band. After honing his skills with the band, he joined up with Johnny Davidson and added Square Dance calling to his talent list. He also called for The Brady Square Dancers. Ron McLeod’s early career fame was likely best achieved when he became a regular on the Main Street Jamboree. In 1958, he spread his […]
December 21, 2022
// by Larry Delaney // (#69 in the Ontario Country Music Pioneers Series) If you had the good fortune to be a radio listener in the late 1950s and through the 60s, you would have been treated to a steady stream of hit songs by rockabilly singer JACK SCOTT. Hit tunes like “Leroy”, “The Way I Walk”, “Goodbye Baby”, “Midgie”, “My True Love”, “Geraldine”, “Save My Soul”, “With Your Love”, “What In The World’s Come Over You” and many more, helped make Jack Scott one of Canada’s most recognizable voices with music fans around the world. What made that hit list even more impressive was that Jack wrote all those songs. Jack Scott was born Giovanni Domenico Scafone, January 24, 1936, in Windsor, Ontario. At […]
November 9, 2022
// by Larry Delaney // (#68 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) MIKE FRANCIS is a multi-talented music man who has literally “done it all” in the music world. A guitarist extraordinaire, a record producer, composer, arranger, and commercial jingles writer… are but a few of his massive career credits. Music has always been a part of Mike Francis’ life. He is the son of legendary Canadian country music recording artist, the late Ray Francis (1931-2010), who headed-up the Chatham, Ontario-based group The Whippoorwills. As a teenager in his hometown of Chatham, Mike followed in his father’s musical footsteps, briefly playing with his father’s band before moving on to working with various local country and pop/rock bands – which led to full-time work in Toronto studios. […]