Here at Whiskey Jack head office, we join our fellow Canadians and look forward to a more secure and predictable future. We certainly hope this finds you and your family Covid-free and ready to take on whatever tomorrow presents. 

There are some very creative and determined programmers in Canada who are working diligently to keep their theatres, clubs and festivals alive, and to those people, we say thank you. All of us in Whiskey Jack will be there to stand on your stage and entertain the fans with our…

Happy Canada Day to you and yours from Whiskey Jack head office. We thank you for supporting our music over the years. It continues to give us hope that some day we'll once again stand on a stage, sing our songs and share our stories.

In the meantime, we're doing what we can to keep the dream alive by using the tools and opportunities available to us. This week, the "new" Whiskey Jack assembled 6' apart, played a lot of tunes and reminisced about the biggest and most thrilling gig of our lives. On July 1,…

Bob McNiven, professional singer, songwriter, guitar and banjo player, unapologetically romantic with a smile permanently imprinted on his face, was born in Pennsylvania on May 24, 1952 and died at home in Toronto on May 4, 2020 of ALS. 

Bob’s unusual childhood was the roadmap for his life as a professional musician. He grew up singing and playing music with his family band, The Singing McNiven’s. His dad was a preacher and they travelled America singing gospel music in camps and churches. Originally from…

Erin Davis from CHFI fame was recently interviewed on a podcast called Toronto Mike'd. It was an all encompassing conversation and in a round-about way, she made mention of Whiskey Jack. Her husband Rob Whitehead played bass for us for many years. She also spoke glowingly of Arlene Zock, our brilliant vocalist who died in 2011. I'm very pleased to announce that Arlene's fans can now, for the first time, listen to her on Spotify, Apple Music and all the other streaming platforms. I'm sorry it took so long to…

It's now official.  Banjodunc made his debut today on this great podcast and much was said about our main man, Stompin' Tom Connors.  Let the advertising campaign begin and please everyone, share the news that the 7th Annual Stompin' Tom Birthday Celebration is coming up at Zoomer Hall on April 16, 2020. Tickets are on sale now.    

Mike and I spun a few discs and talked about many things and people ... Dan Kershaw's Bramalea, Douglas Cameron's Three Chord Johnny and Mona With The Children, @BernieFinlest…

When we're not on tour with Whiskey Jack performing Stories & Songs of Stompin' Tom Show across the country, Duncan and Douglas are making friends and music as a duo. They call themselves Doogie and Dun. Sometimes, with too much time on their hands, things get out of hand.  This is what happens.  

Think of this as a Fantasy League for Canadian music fans..."What would happen if?"

In this case, what would have happened if Leonard Cohen got fed up with trying to write the lyrics for his little ditty…

As Whiskey Jack begins its seventh touring season, our quest for world domination continues.  Increasing our footprint... our profile - that's what it's all about.  I'm happy to report that we are making progress on that front.  We have entered into a business relationship with what we think is the hottest media outlet in the GTA and beyond, a podcast called Toronto Mike'd.  There is even hope that this is a game changer for our show.

Here's why it's so important.  In our 40+ year history, Whiskey Jack has…

The great Mac Wiseman died yesterday.  His voice was a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  In the 1950's, Don Ramsey's radio show in the Soo was on all the time in our little house on Pumpkin Point Road in Laird Township near Bar River, Ontario and Jimmy Brown the Newsboy was my favourite song at that time.

Years later, I played banjo for Mac on one of his Canadian tours.  Whiskey Jack even recorded a radio special with Mac on David Essig's show on the CBC.  I have that recording somewhere.  On…

For Immediate Release: September 4, 2018 • Please include in your listings/announcements

Shaun Pilot and 8Horse Music Present

Whiskey Jack - Highlights From 41 Years In Canadian Folk/Roots Music

Free Times Cafe, Toronto, On

On Friday, October 12, 2018, veteran Canadian All Star band Whiskey Jack, will perform highlights from their storied career and segments from their touring show, Stories & Songs of Stompin’ Tom, at The Free Times Cafe, Toronto, On. This Toronto based band, a mainstay on the…

We're very pleased to announce that Whiskey Jack has just signed our 5th licensing agreement with the two organizations that run Tom's affairs, Stompin' Tom Ltd. and their record label, Ole Majorly Indie.   The photo below includes, from left to right, Robert Ott, CEO of Ole, Duncan Fremlin, Manager of Whiskey Jack and Andy Curran, Senior Consultant, Ole. We're all very excited to continue spreading the spirit of the Canadian mosaic associated with Canada's favourite troubadour, Stompin' Tom Connors.

The…

“Whiskey Jack Presents Stories and Songs of Stompin' Tom” was born shortly after Stompin' Tom died in 2014. However, Whiskey Jack started collecting the songs and stories that eventually became part of this show in 1990 when Duncan Fremlin, Whiskey Jack's leader, toured with Tom for the first time. There were many adventures along the way. 

The show is 100% Canadian - not only a portrait of their years on stage with Stompin' Tom, but also anecdotes and songs from their years as cast members on the CBC's…

It was a fantastic and fairly typical winter afternoon to celebrate Canada and her greatest singers and songwriters.  Fantastic because the musicians were in fine form and the songs that they sang were heartfelt and soothing to the northern soul...and typical because it was storming outside.  The large and enthusiastic audience was not discouraged by the icy roads (although many out-of-towners didn't make it).  

One fan, a trucker from Sudbury wrote to say he "had a terrific time yesterday - bought the…

We thank you for your interest and continued support for Stompin' Tom's legacy and for our show, Stories & Songs of Stompin' Tom.. 

Note the new location and the time. We are grateful to the many of you who drive long distances to attend our shows so hopefully, this earlier start will make for a more enjoyable day. 

We have commissioned a short 15 minute theatrical play about Stompin' Tom. It will be presented during the intermission at our show on February 11. 

Whiskey Jack & Zoomer Radio 

present 

…

Last Wednesday was a monster day in the life of our show.  We were invited to perform the Hockey Song as part of Stompin' Tom's induction into Canada's Walk of Fame ceremony at the Liberty Grand Ballroom in Toronto.  It was a thrill of a lifetime for all of us.

Don Cherry and Ron McLean introduced the segment via video and as we all expected, it was all about "hockey".  We then sang a rousing version of The Hockey Song accompanied by an unbelievably good house band.   We invited "Prime Minister Mulroney…

We're very pleased to announce that our show on October 28, 2017 at the Milton Theatre for the Arts will be filmed by the highly skilled professionals at Orchard TV and streamed live on the internet.  Dave Ferri and his Orchard TV crew have completely rebuilt and modernized their facilities.  Their new mobile studio is state of the art and a thing of beauty.  

                                                For Immediate Release: August 26, 2017 • Please include in your listings/announcements 

Whiskey…

My good friend and an important part of the Stories & Songs of Stompin' Tom entourage Jim Baine is the man primarily responsible for the Canada 150 Program that we've been giving away at our shows this summer.  It's a very impressive publication with essays by the Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, John Farrington (Tom's ghost writer), Jim Bain and me, Duncan Fremlin.  

We're happy to report that Jim is working at a new version that will be available at our 2018 shows.   There'll be a few more stories from my…

Here at Whiskey Jack head office, we sat down with our pencil and abacas to figure out how many shows we've performed since this tour began in 2014 and we were amazed to discover:

# Shows - 38

# Fans who have attended these shows - 9500

# Shows booked into 2018 - 10

# Songs in repertoire....A LOT!

# CD's released featuring Whiskey Jack and Stompin' Tom - 3

# Videos posted on our Youtube Channel - not sure but over 25 for sure!

# Videos that have gone viral - 1 (last time we looked, there were 89,935…

I'M NOT SURE when the Canadian flags began to appear in great numbers but by the time we got to Webbwood, they were impossible to ignore - they were everywhere. 

IT WAS TWO days before the July 1 party was to begin and we were on our way to Wawa to perform our Canada 150 show.  Stompin' Tom's music was going to return to Wawa to help that famous town celebrate the unveiling of their new goose.   It was obvious that the country, or at least Northern Ontario, was in the mood for a party, the incessant rain…

"It was, as always, a terrific show!    What is so clear is the tightness of your performance, a feat that comes from years of close affiliation, camaraderie and playing together."   

"There are more than 450 species of birds across Canada, but until now, not one of them has been designated as our national bird. In 2015, the team at Canadian Geographic decided it was time to change that, and founded the National Bird Project with the aim of declaring an official bird for Canada by 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation."  

Only hours ago, the results were…