Dixie Flyers
Canadian bluegrass band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dixie Flyers were a Canadian bluegrass band based in London, Ontario, Canada. The band first came together in 1974,[1] and became one of Canada's best known bluegrass bands.[2]
Career
Original members of the band were guitarist Bert Baumbach, mandolinist Ken Palmer, harmonica player Willie P. Bennett, bassist Brian Abbey and Dennis LePage on the banjo.[3] Although lead vocalists Baumbach and Palmer have been continuous members, over the years the band has seen a number of changes in the lineup.[4] Dixie Flyer band members have included:[2][5]
- Guitar: Bert Baumbach
- Fiddle: Gordon Stobbe, Peter Robertson (miscredited on at least one Boot Records album as "Peter Robinson"), and John P. Allen.
- Mandolin: Ken Palmer (died October 30, 2013)[6]
- Bass: Brian Abbey, David Zdriluk, Luke Maynard, and Chris Ingram
- Banjo: Dennis LePage, David Jack, David Talbot, Paul Hurdle, Walter Maynard, and Darin Parise
- Harmonica: Willie P. Bennett (died February 15, 2008) and Mike Ethelston
- Dobro: Al Widmeyer, Blair Heddle, Darin Parise
The Dixie Flyers played at the Carlisle Bluegrass Festival in 1975,[3] where they met Bill Monroe, and were subsequently invited to play at Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival in Indiana, USA.[7][8] The band also played at the Cambridge Millrace Festival[9] and the Blueberry Bluegrass Festival in Stony Plain, Alberta.[10] They also played several times at the Canterbury Folk Festival in Ingersoll, Ontario.[11] The band performed regularly at the Flint Folk and Bluegrass Festival in Michigan.[6]
The Flyers recorded a series of albums on the Boot Records label during the 1970s.[2] They were the hosts of a television show called Bluegrass Express on CFPL in London in 1985 and also took part in a weekly radio show for seven years.[12][3] The band appeared on the Tommy Hunter Show, and for a time managed the Back 40 Bluegrass Festival at Woodstock, Ont.[2]
After a last stand with The Flyers at the Elgin County international plowing match in the fall of 2010, Ken Palmer retired due to heart problems.[13] The band played on briefly without him before going on indefinite hiatus. On October 30, 2013, Ken Palmer died at the age of 65 after a bout of pneumonia contracted after a heart transplant.[14] A few months earlier, in the spring of 2013, the band had been inducted into the London (Ontario) Music Hall of Fame, with both Palmer and Baumbach in attendance.[8][15]
Discography
Albums:
| Name of Album | Label | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Light, Medium, Heavy | Boot Records | 1977 |
| For Our Friends | Boot Records | 1980 |
| Just Pickin' | Boot Records | 1978 |
| Cheaper to Lease | Boot Records | 1978 |
| Five by Five | Boot Records | 1981 |
| New Horizons | Stony Plain | 1984 |
| Business as Usual | Boot Records | 1987 |
| Live at the Wellington Tavern | Flat Top | 1990 |
| Right on Track | Flat Top | 2005 |