And the Inductees are.... Summer of 2023 Festivals Issue $12.00 Volume 17 Issue 4 October 2023 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42167060 bluegrasscanada.orgTable of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Canada VOLUME 18ISSUE 3 Columns President’ Message Lessons Banjo Lessons - Denis Mandolin Lessons - Emory Dobro Lessons - Pascal Leanne’s Cartoon Leanne’s Cartoon for October East Coast Down East Talent - Karen DeCoste Paul Josey- Nova Scotia Luthier - Karen DeCoste News Ontario Musician Marc Roy Passes Onion Honey News CD Review International Corner Bluegrass Giant Bobby Osborne Passes Listings Bluegrass Radio Schedule Radio on the Air BMAC Operational Listings Festivals of 2023 Photos & Reviews Editor’s Message Message from Mike Higgins Back Cover Shady Grove Festival Memories 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees For 2023 By Mike Higgins By Nancy Keddy By Leanne Swantko By Linda Thorburn By Karen DeCoste Our Cover Story Limited Edition’s 1985 tour with Mac Wiseman OTTAWA VALLEY AWARDS 17TH ANNUAL VALLEY GRASS AWARDS ANNOUNCED THE STORY OF THE All about Montreal born mandolinist Dave Tinkoff Introduction by Mike Higgins with full story by Paul McKay Remembering Down East festivals from the past Bluegrass Canada’s cartoonist and more Under The Rocks A hot new band from Kelowna MATT LUNN & ECHO MOUNTAIN Popular Bluegrass Musician and Luthier The Incredible Story of David TinkoffBluegrass Music Association of Canada BMAC is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass and old-time music in Canada, and supported by the volunteer efforts of its members. BMAC MISSION STATEMENT The BMAC mission statement as enacted in the by-laws: a) Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass and old-time music throughout Canada. Goals: b) To support individuals, groups and organizations involved in bluegrass and old-time music. c) To provide leadership and promote education among fans, clubs, bands and artists. Specifically: 1) The establishment of bluegrass categories in the Juno Awards; 2) Lobbying with other musical genres for changes in US laws to allow easier access to the US by Canadian musicians; 3) Establishing a national bluegrass awards program not in conflict with the two existing regional awards events; 4) Sponsoring Canadian Bands to Showcase at IBMA; 5) Supporting Canadian bands efforts to play in other parts of the country; 6) Seeking grant funding to achieve these goals. V o l u m e 18 I s s u e 3 Email: Website: Publisher; Murray Hale Editor: Mike Higgins Membership SUBSCRIPTION MEMBERSHIP One Year: $50 A Subscription Membership provides all the benefits of a Grassroots membership plus a printed copy of the magazine delivered to your mailing address. The Bluegrass Canada magazine is published quarterly in January, April, July and October. Grass Roots Membership: One year: $25 . Provides full access to digital current and past versions of the magazine. Receive additional benefits for your band, festival, organization or event on the BMAC web site. Associate Member FREE when you create your account on You can also enter basic details about your band, organization and events plus access to selected magazine articles. Please send articles, information, photos and letters to: Bluegrass Canada Mike Higgins 5480 Glen Erin Dr. unit 63 Mississauga, On. L5M 5R3 Email: Telephone: 905 567 4708 Membership renewal payments: Forward cheque payable to BMAC to: Gord DeVries, 22790 Amiens Road, Komoka, On.N0L 1R0 or e-transfer payment to: Deadline for submissions is the first of the month, 60 days preceding the magazine issue date. PRINTED IN CANADA. CANADA POST CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES PRODUCT AGREEMENT No. 42167060 SUBMISSIONS Send change of addresses and undeliverable notices of Canadian addresses to BMAC, c/o Gord DeVries, 22790 Amiens Road, Komoka. On. N0L-1R0 BMAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Murray Hale 705-845-8112/FLA.:863-273-2601 Vice-President Eric Holt Treasurer Gord DeVries Secretary Dave Featherstone Membership Gord DeVries Advertising Director Dave Featherstone Webmaster Denis LePage Director Mike Higgins Director Denis LePage Director Eric Holt Director Linda Thorburn Director Wilson Moore Social Media Carol Boyer Contributors Dave Featherstone Gloria Jean Hansen Denis LePage Emory Lester Karen DeCoste Pascal Richard Leanne Swantko Dave Porter Pat Moore OutWest Liason - LindaThorburn Advertising Rates & Specs Dave Featherstone 519-276-8838 Layout Gidget Lowther 250-228-0162 Printing & Distribution Innovative Kaitlyn Gerber 1-888-698-3883 #109 Millbank, ON C a n a d a BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - 4 MASTHEADPresident’s Message HALL OF FAME IS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUEby Murray Hale Murray Hale, president of the BMAC. Yes folks - here it is August and I am writing the Presidents Message from Canyonlands National Park in Utah, USA. After having already attended three festivals this spring and summer, we decided to take a road trip. And now back to the business of bluegrass. I am proud to announce that memberships are on the rise as is the use of our website: This issue of Bluegrass Canada magazine announces this year‘s inductees into the Canadian Bluegrass Hall of Fame. As well, we have established a virtual Canadian Bluegrass Hall of Fame on the web site. This was a very exciting and fulfilling adventure for us to take on and complete. The process will have some growing pains, but we have already put a lot of thought and research into it. Most of the festivals that we have been attending have been successful, well attended and filled with wonderful music. Lots of new bands are emerging across the country and showcasing their music to us through the website. Please take a moment to check them out! I hope to see many of you at the last few festivals of the season. Bluegrass is alive and well in Canada, so let us enjoy it. Cheers Murray Hale 5OCTOBER BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE PRESIDENT MESSAGE & EDITOR’S HIGHLIGHTSBLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - 6 By Denis LePage Eighth of January shown in melodic style MELODIC BANJO BASICS Denis LePage has spent over 40 years mastering the banjo, and is an active member of the Canadian bluegrass community. He currently runs a website dedicated to banjo instruction: Last summer I was invited to participate as the bluegrass banjo instructor at the Old School Fiddle and Banjo Camp that was held in Elphin Ontario (near Perth) in July. The camp is organized and hosted by Jenny Whiteley and Joey Wright and offers 3 full days of lessons, workshops and performances in clawhammer banjo, fiddle, 3-finger style banjo, singing and songwriting by a host of outstanding musicians. (They also ran a Bluegrass Camp in July with the Barrel Boys as instructors.) Being at the F&B camp was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend that you consider attending one of the camps offered throughout the year. You can find out more at their website: BANJO We had quite a few players interested in 3-finger style playing and we covered a lot of different techniques that are used in Scruggs style, melodic and single string playing, accompaniment, song dynamics, lead and back up playing and integrating various tools in your playing. One of the topics that came up was how to approach melodic style so that you could play fiddle tunes note for note. Some players had some experience in this style but I thought it best to start at the beginning and I want to share some of what we covered. Melodic style playing involves 3 basic rules that ensure that your melodic playing will be smooth and flowing. (Note: sometimes the rules need to be broken in order to play the correct sequence of notes for a particular tune…but that is a topic for another day.) 1. Never play successive eighth notes on the same string. 2. Never play successive eighth notes with the same right hand finger 3. Always try to find an open string as a transition note when moving from one position to another. Secondly, there are 3 basic melodic positions that you should become familiar with (in the key of G) and that are used over and over when playing tunes. We refer to these as the ‘7-5’, the ‘5-4’ and the ‘9-10’ positions. You can play a scale (or parts of a scale) in G using these positions:7OCTOBER BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE Basic melodic positions: Putting these positions and rules together we can play the tune ‘Eighth of January’ where you can see that we follow these rules and are able to play the tune note for note. Good Luck and as always, reach out to me if you have any questions. The Eighth of January: (editor’s historical note: One of the most popular and widespread of Southern fiddle tunes. The melody was originally named Jackson’s Victory after Andrew Jackson’s famous rout of the British Army at New Orleans on January 8, 1815.) BANJOBLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - 8 HALL OF FAME SELECTIONS Bluegrass Music Association of Canada The Bluegrass Music Association of Canada would like to thank all bluegrass supporters from across the country who contributed to the nomination process for this, the very first edition of the annual Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame! Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Please join us in congratulating the following people on being inducted into this 2023 edition. Those individuals whose names were submitted but were not inducted this year, will be kept in the pool for consideration for next year’s group of inductees. We have selected one submission for each of the 5 regions of Canada (BC,Prairies, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes). As the number of submissions grows in the next number of years, we will consider a 6th inductee to accommodate Yukon, the Territories and the areas where a high number of nominations have been submitted. If there is someone you think should be included in the Hall of Fame, please visit the Hall of Fame page on the BMAC website (bluegrasscanada.org) to find out how you can submit that person’s name and information to the HoF Submission Committee. We would also invite you to visit the website to find out more about each of the 2023 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees. Jim Brown - British Columbia Jim Brown has been a tireless volunteer for the bluegrass community in British Columbia for nearly 50 years. His contributions to the growth of bluegrass music started in the early 1970’s with his involvement with the Coombs Country Opera where many bluegrass acts performed. In 1978 the first Coombs Bluegrass Festival was held. Jim was instrumental in the success of the festival since its early day, acting in numerous capacities including emcee, entertainment co-ordinator, site builder and project manager, parade float builder and much more. In large part, because of Jim Brown’s tireless efforts, the Coombs Rodeo Grounds, where the Coombs Bluegrass Festival is held, now boasts a large grandstand, numerous outbuildings, a bunkhouse, a rodeo ring, a community hall and now hosts many events both for the community and the general area. BMAC is proud to welcome Jim Brown to the Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Bob Whittaker (1940-2021) - Manitoba From the time that Bob Whittaker became interested in bluegrass in the early 2000’s, he has been an active performer and promoter of the music in Manitoba. He was a proud, long term member of the Manitoba Old Tyme & Bluegrass Society (MOBS) and was instrumental in helping organize the local jams held by the society for over 20 years. The jam evenings usually ran twice a month and were first held at the Elmwood Legion. The format was used was a ‘Jam Sandwich’ format where bands would jam with other players, then perform and jam again after the performance. The jams had to be run on a shoestring budget but with Bob’s help they managed to keep them going and to keep having bands present to both perform and participate in the jams. As time progressed the jams moved through various Royal Canadian Legions and locations including Elmwood, Transcona, Beausejour, and the Royal George Hotel in Transcona. Bob was an accomplished mandolin player and singer and was a significant contributor to the Manitoba Old Tyme & Bluegrass Society. BMAC is proud to welcome Bob Whittaker to the Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all the 2023 Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame Inductees! Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame Inductees - 20239OCTOBER BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE HALL OF FAME SELECTIONS Tony DeBoer (1939-2020) - Ontario Few people have been more active in opening up bluegrass music in Canada and especially in Ontario than Tony DeBoer. During his lifetime he has held hundreds of concerts, festivals and shows and was tireless in promoting Canadian bluegrass talent both in Canada and the US. His initial foray into bluegrass was as one of the initial founders of the Skyway Bluegrass Club in Burlington Ontario; a club that held regular concerts and jams for bluegrass enthusiasts throughout the Golden Horseshoe / Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). He later bought property in Northern Ontario and ran three festivals on that property each year for nearly 40 years. Those festivals continue today and are run by his three children: Cindy, Patrick and Doug. In addition, Tony helped many other festivals get up off the ground, some of which continue to be held, including festivals at Palmer Rapids, Woodstock, Cayuga, and Manitoulin Island. Tony was also heavily involved with the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) in the US and organized many trips to their annual convention to highlight Canadian bands to the US audience. He was a board member of IBMA, organized a hospitality suite at the annual conventions where Canadian bands could be featured and was twice recipient of the Kentucky Colonel Award for his promotion efforts. In the winter months, in addition to holding regular local jams, the DeBoer family’s Northern Bluegrass Committee ran many concerts that always featured a prominent or up-and-coming Canadian band along with a US headliner. In addition to all this, when the Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards were in danger of folding, Tony took up the mantle and continued to hold the event for many decades more. BMAC is proud to welcome Tony DeBoer to the Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Bob Fuller (1934-2018) - Quebec Bob Fuller is recognized as one of the pioneers of bluegrass music in Quebec. In 1965 Bob began hosting the Hillbilly Night sponsored by the Old Time Music Club in Montreal held at the Blue Angel Café and later the Wheel Club. All the music had to be bluegrass or traditional country and only acoustic instruments (and steel guitar) were allowed. Bob guided the group through those evenings to focus on bluegrass and old time. Those events continue to this day. Bob was a proficient and prolific guitar player and singer. He was a leader of many bands including Bluegrass Bob and the Bobcats, The Happy Wanderer; and The Cat’s Den lounge band “The Bluegrass Ramblers” that played regularly at the Cat’s Den Lounge, Montreal’s Moose Lodge and numerous other venues. In 1971 Bob released his LP album “Canadian Country Favorites - Bob Fuller and The Mountain Strings”. Featured with Bob: Guy Carpenter and other Hillbilly Night regulars. MMC 1715 Bob travelled extensively and brought his love of bluegrass to audiences everywhere he went. His knowledge and enthusiasm for traditional Country and Bluegrass music was infectious and he won the genre a great many converts. BMAC is proud to welcome Bob Fuller to the Canadian Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.Next >