Every dog may have its day, but who’s to say you can’t have close to five decades’ worth of days? That has certainly been the case for what arguably remains one of the most beloved and successful roots-country-bluegrass bands in Canadian music history.
Since forming in Toronto in 1977 — a time when Canadian rock bands ruled the city music landscape and the catchy disco sound was catching on — Whiskey Jack has won, and kept, the hearts of fans across Canada.
For several years, as host of the comedy segment The Ol’ Back Porch on The Tommy Hunter Show and later as the late Stompin’ Tom Connors’ tour band, Whiskey Jack’s musical prowess and fun stage persona was on full display, winning the band a sizable loyal following that remains to this day.
So it was that when the idea of bringing together stars of CBC TV’s long-running hallmark music program for a reunion tour was broached, Whiskey Jack’s being part of that cavalcade was as assured as it was fitting.
On Sunday, June 8 at Peterborough’s Air Force Association Hall at 274 King Street, the aptly titled “CBC TV Country Music Stars” show will see Whiskey Jack headline alongside Donna Ramsay and LeRoy Anderson who, as Donna and LeRoy, performed weekly for 17 years on The Tommy Hunter Show starting in 1975 (the pair were inducted into the the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010).
Admission to the 2 p.m. show is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested price of $35. Featured will be a mix of favourite songs from Hunter’s TV show, some Stompin’ Tom standards, and a selection of Whiskey Jack songs.
The Peterborough show — the last of four scheduled, preceded by stops in Nobel (near Parry Sound), Sault Ste. Marie, and Toronto — will see John Hoffman join Whiskey Jack for a few numbers. In the mid-1970s, the Peterborough resident developed an interest in bluegrass music and come 1979, mandolin in hand, found himself a member of Whiskey Jack alongside co-founder Duncan Fremlin, Bob McNiven, and Greg Street.
VIDEO: Maple Sugar / Big John McNeil / St. Anne’s Reel Medley – Whiskey Jack (2015)
“There was a sort of a bluegrass revival that started in the early ’70s — The Good Brothers were the most famous part of that — but there were other bands we went around to see and I got interested in bluegrass,” recalls Hoffman, citing New Riders of the Purple Sage as an influence.
“Somebody put a notice up in a music store looking for someone to play in a bluegrass band. It was Duncan. We started jamming. I spent 1977-78 going to Trent (University), but I took the bus to Toronto every weekend to jam with Duncan and this other fellow, Paul Wickham. We started playing for money, trying to go full-time (as Whiskey Jack) early in 1979.”
Besides playing gigs wherever it could, Whiskey Jack recorded and released three albums — Uptown (1979), One More Time (1981), and Whiskey Jack (1983). The band’s first single, notes Hoffman, was penned by “a Peterborough guy,” Roy Mulder.
“We got a bit of a buzz and felt we were doing pretty good, but in 1981, we hit the doldrums,” says Hoffman. “The call to audition for The Tommy Hunter Show came at a particularly bad time. We had a gig booked at the Trent Inn (in Peterborough) and it cancelled. I was thinking ‘Are we going to be able to do this?’ In those days, when a gig was cancelled, that was your paycheque for the week.”
But The Tommy Hunter Show audition went well, proving to be manna from heaven as Whiskey Jack secured a regular spot performing the musical backdrop for the show’s comedy segment The Ol’ Back Porch over three seasons, accompanying show guest performers as well.
“That was thing that really gave our career a huge boost,” says Hoffman.
Come 1986, however, getting to “the next level,” says Hoffman, meant touring across Canada full-time. With a small child at home, that, says Hoffman, “was a level I didn’t want to get to,” forcing his decision to call it a day with Whiskey Jack.
“I never had illusions that we were going to hit the really big time. At first, when we got on The Tommy Hunter Show, I thought maybe, but then it was like ‘No, it’s not going to happen.’ But it was a good run.”
While Hoffman moved on to play regularly with Washboard Hank, Fremlin stayed at it with the band, and after a few years that saw Whiskey Jack play a minimal number of shows, another Peterborough connection — in the form of promoter Brian Edwards of Rocklands Entertainment — led to the next big chapter: touring with Stompin’ Tom Connors from 1993 until his death in 2014.
Like Hoffman, Fremlin says The Tommy Hunter Show run was huge for the band, both then and now.
“If it wasn’t for Tommy Hunter, you and I would not be talking today — it just changed everything,” says Fremlin, adding “We milked it; we took advantage of it.”
“John and I were a good team. We had the drive, we had the smarts, we had the initiative. A lot of creative marketing went into it. I don’t think I could have done it without him, and I’m hoping he would say the same about me. We were brains and brawn of it, even though, in some ways, we were the least talented.”
To this day, Fremlin shakes his head over the fact that Whiskey Jack was able to work well with as diverse personalities as Tommy Hunter and Stompin’ Tom Connors.
“If there are two Canadian performers who don’t belong in the same room, it’s Tommy Hunter and Stompin’ Tom. They were complete opposites in so many ways. I don’t think either one of them thought much of the other.”
“Here we are — Whiskey Jack, Stompin’ Tom’s band, and Donna and Leroy, Tommy Hunter’s duo — getting together for this show, and we all get along,” Fremlin adds. “I don’t think those two guys would have got along at all.”
Speaking to the Peterborough show, Fremlin makes note of another local connection in the form of current Whiskey Jack member Douglas Cameron. Twice Juno Award-nominated, he lived in Peterborough for several years and was an original member of The CeeDees alongside another Peterborough resident, Curtis Driedger.
“How lucky was I to get hooked up with him about 12 or 13 years ago?” marvels Fremlin, noting Hoffman made that introduction.
“We just kind of hit it off. We’re both writing songs and performing at the highest level, and we’re both in our 70s. Besides the fact that he’s very musical, his performance is very theatrical and animated, in an industry where there’s not a whole lot of that.”
Asked if getting together again with Hoffman on stage will fit like an old shoe, Fremlin points to the example of his jamming last summer with Donna and Leroy.
“I hadn’t seen them in 30 years. That part of it (playing music together) was like falling off a log. We traded songs, we knew the same songs, so that part was good. The idea of taking that, and making a show out of it, that’s an entirely different story.”
“Donna and I have spent countless hours on this. It’s been a hell of a lot of work. That’s not at all like riding a bike. We’re creating this show from scratch. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m confident that with those on stage, with so many decades behind them, the show is going to be very entertaining and very fun.”
For his part, Hoffman, who’s best known in recent years for his hand in bringing the In From The Cold fundraiser for the YES Shelter for Youth and Families to Market Hall each December (with Driedger also a regular performer), is “looking forward to seeing what these guys come up with.”
“They’re all really good musicians. This is a new thing for them. These people are not young. It’s kind of inspiring that older musicians want to try new things. I can relate to that. I’m at ‘Let’s see what happens.'”
For more information about Whiskey Jack, which also features Billy MacInnis on fiddle and James McEleney on bass, visit whiskeyjackmusic.com.
