A new all-Canadian country music show is heading to Ontario next month, with a special stop in Sault Ste. Marie.
The CBC TV Country Music Stars tour will appear at The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music on June 4. The event is presented by the Northern Ontario Country Music Association.
The CBC, known as the voice of the nation, brings the show together. But it’s the music, stories, and on-stage personalities that give this event a strong local flavour. Much of that is thanks to Hall of Fame DJ Don Ramsay, a key figure in the region’s music history.
Two Sault-born performers, Donna Ramsay (of Donna and LeRoy) and Duncan Fremlin (of Whiskey Jack), will lead the show. Both are award-winning musicians who once performed on the CBC’s Tommy Hunter Show. They’ll be joined by their musical partners, LeRoy Anderson and Douglas John Cameron, in a night filled with songs and stories inspired by Sault Ste. Marie.
Duncan, known for his longtime role as Stompin’ Tom Connors’ musical partner, will also bring a patriotic touch to the evening with a performance tied to the theme “Canada Is Not For Sale.”
Many locals remember Donna Ramsay from her early days singing on local television in the 1950s. She performed with musicians like Bill Haight and fiddler Fred Kent, both members of the Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame.
The legacy of this show traces back to Don Ramsay, a singer, producer, DJ, and promoter who began his career in 1941. Don’s voice was a fixture on local airwaves for decades. From 1956 to 1959, Donna joined her father’s weekly CJIC-TV show, Down Yonder Ranch, singing live with his band.
Although television reception was limited in the 1950s, one viewer who watched regularly was a young Duncan Fremlin. He tuned in from his home on Pumpkin Point Road, watching Donna perform on the family’s 14-inch black-and-white TV.
As a boy, Duncan also made his mark at the Kiwanis Music Festival, showing early signs of a promising music career.
At the June 4 concert, Donna will perform “Saddle Tramp,” a song she wrote for her father. The lyrics mention “Suppertime,” the theme song of Down Yonder Ranch, originally performed by 1950s Nashville star Jimmy Davis. Duncan, too, wrote a tribute to Don Ramsay called “Come Home,” which also references “Suppertime.”
Reflecting on those days, Duncan recalled, “Growing up on Pumpkin Point Road in the 1950s, the radio was always on. No one could start supper until Jimmy Davis finished that song and someone said Grace.”
Nostalgia will take center stage at The Loft on June 4. With beloved songs, personal stories, and memories of a musical past, the night promises moments of both laughter and tears.
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