New Threshers' entertainment chair shares rich musical history

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

A few weeks ago, The Citizen sat down with Al Widmeyer, the Huron Pioneer Threshers and Hobby Association’s (HPTHA) new Entertainment Co-ordinator, to hear a little about the musical programming he has planned for this weekend’s Threshers Reunion in Blyth.

 

Along with all the pertinent information, The Citizen also heard Widmeyer’s wild and winding tales of his life before Blyth, and found them too captivating not to share ahead of the big event. 

 

Born into a musical family, Widmeyer’s father decided one day that his son ought to have the best musical education available, and he soon found himself face to face with a London legend - Edith Hill Adams. From sometime before the advent of World War I until just before her death in 1983, Hill Adams taught music to many promising students, including Tommy Hunter. While she was adept at a multitude of instruments, Hill Adams specialized in steel guitar, which was then commonly known as the “Hawaiian” guitar.

 

Widmeyer arrived at class with a guitar and a songbook and set about learning the song “Red River Valley.” That first lesson was simple - Hill Adams played the notes, Widmeyer listened, and then she sent him home to practise.

 

The following week, when he played the song back, Hill Adams quickly sent for Widmeyer’s father. “She told him, ‘You just might as well let him go with his ear - he’s got a great ear, and he’ll learn more by ear than he will of my notes.’” Widmeyer recalled. She went on to advise his father to bring him back when he was older, for more in-depth training “And that was it for my musical education for a while,” Widmeyer told The Citizen.

 

One lesson turned out to be more than enough - by the 1970s, Widmeyer was a sought after dobro player. He started performing with acclaimed Canadian bluegrass band the Dixie Flyers, and played on several albums released by Boot Records - Stompin’ Tom Connor’s very own record label.

 

From coast to coast, Canadians nationwide recognized Stompin’ Tom, but far fewer could say the Canadian music icon ever recognized them. Widmeyer is one of those few.

 

It was a fortuitous turn for both musicians. Just as the perpetually touring national treasure found himself in need of a dobro player willing to hit the road on short notice, Widmeyer turned up at his hotel room. Connors, who knew a Dixie Flyer when he saw one, was quick to make the mysterious musician an offer. 

 

And just like that, Widmeyer was on the road, playing with the man himself. It wasn’t long before the tour brought the whole band to Blyth to see their own story writ large in The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom when it debuted at the Blyth Festival. Stompin’ Tom was pleased enough at the recounting of his life to stick around for the after party, where the band had a chance to meet their theatrical counterparts.

 

Widmeyer learned from experience that Stompin’ Tom’s music travelled well, no matter where they were playing. Whether they played for a laughing crowd of farmers in Lethbridge, Alberta or groups of goths in Vancouver, British Columbia - the music always got through. If they were playing in the West, Connors chose songs about the West. In the East, he had songs for the East. “He was singing about everybody - he was singing about Canadians,” Widmeyer recalled.

 

After Stompin’ Tom died in 2013, Widmeyer attended the memorial in Peterborough, where he encountered another Canadian musical institution - Tommy Hunter. When Widmeyer took the opportunity to divulge that he was also a former Hill Adams student, Hunter was pleasantly surprised.

 

Widmeyer’s “Threshers era” began over 30 years ago. “The first time I came here, there was the fiddle contest, of course, but there was all the jamming. Back then, there were a lot more jammers than there are now,” he explained. “The fiddle players and the guitar players would be jamming all day… so from then on, I camped - every year, for many days.”

 

When he retired nine years ago, he moved from Kitchener and started volunteering. At first, they had him parking trailers. Then somebody asked him to come to a meeting, and the next thing he knew, he was on the board of directors. 

 

Now that he’s running the whole show at the 65th Reunion, Widmeyer knows he’ll be busy, but he’s still going to find the time to perform. He’ll likely still play the big dance on Saturday night, and plans to pop up on stages here and there throughout the Reunion. “I’ll take my fiddle or my guitar, and just sing a couple of songs,” he noted.

 

Widmeyer’s life in music has never really been about standing still - it started with a teacher telling him to trust his ear, took him high with the Dixie Flyers, onto the road with Stompin’ Tom, and eventually to Huron County, where people like to gather to make a little music together. At Threshers, Al Widmeyer has found himself exactly where he belongs - for now.