Next week, you have an opportunity to revisit a piece of Peterborough’s musical history.
Hank Fisher and Ken Ramsden — better known as Washboard Hank and Reverend Ken — are reuniting for a special performance at The Garnet in downtown Peterborough at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 22nd.
Back in the 1970s, the pair performed as a street busker duo also known as “The Duke of Washboardom and the Parson of Panhandledom”.
VIDEO: “Bailieboro” – Washboard Hank with Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers
They performed their hilarious minstrel act across Canada and the U.S., with Reverend Ken on guitar and fiddle and Washboard Hank on horns, cymbals, cowbell, telephone bell and (of course) washboard.
When they returned to their hometown of Peterborough, they performed in front of the Orpheus Music Store on Hunter Street West — which is today the location of The Garnet.
In the late ’70s until the ’80s, Reverend Ken also performed with the show band The Lost Followers, which included Washboard Hank. If you lived in Peterborough at the time, you may remember the weekly “Red Dog Howls” on Wednesday nights at the Legendary Red Dog Tavern.
VIDEO: “The Midnight Ride of Red Dog Ray” – Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers
This is where Reverend Ken and The Lost Followers recorded “The Midnight Ride of Red Dog Ray”, an homage to Ray McGregor, the proprietor of the Red Dog at the time (Ray passed away in 2001). The song tells the tale of Ray travelling to Quebec to purchase beer during the long strike of workers at Ontario’s beer stores in 1985.
Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers toured their mix of bluegrass, country, rock, and popular hits across Canada during the 1980s, regularly appearing at the Brunswick House in Toronto. While performing in the band, Washboard Hank invented a new woodwind instrument that he called the “fallopian tuba”, crafted from a kitchen sink and ABS tubing.
Reverend Ken eventually left the group, which then became Washboard Hank and the Honkers.
Aside from his musical career, Reverend Ken achieved a measure of fame when he brought down the City of Peterborough’s anti-postering bylaw. In 1988, he was fined under the bylaw for putting posters on hydro poles promoting Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers.
He challenged the bylaw as unconstitutional, and his challenge went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Reverend Ken won, with the court striking down the bylaw in 1993, ruling that it violated freedom of expression.
For kawarthaNOW.com, Reverend Ken holds a special place in our hearts. He was our very first music writer — of sorts.
Back in the mid 1990s, when we operated quidnovis.com (kawarthaNOW.com’s predecessor), Reverend Ken sat down with our publisher Jeannine Taylor at the Peterborough Arms (now the Publican House Brew Pub) to propose our very first music column.
Totally from memory, Reverend Ken wrote down every upcoming live music act at every venue in Peterborough.
Appropriately enough, he scribbled his notes on coasters from the Arms. We still have the coasters.
Head to The Garnet on August 22nd to show your support for these two fine musical gentlemen. There will be a cover charge of $15 at the door.
