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Peter's Bio
Peter Dawson, a native of the Okanagan Valley in South Central British
Columbia, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, did not
start to play the fiddle until he was the ripe old age of five. From there, he
never looked back!
In the 1940's and early '50's with his own band, Peter played for dances
throughout Southern B.C. and broadcast regular radio shows on CKOV in Kelowna,
CJIB in Vernon and CKOK in Penticton. In the early 1950's, he joined a
travelling country group making several cross Canada tours.
In the mid 1950's, Peter moved to Toronto and played the night-club circuit plus
several TV shows out of Toronto and Hamilton. He appeared several times on the
Mainstreet Jamboree out of CHML in Hamilton. Peter was also one of the musicians
in the Toronto studio that recorded the original "The French Song" by the famous
Canadian, Lucille Starr.
He then joined the Wheeling Jamboree at Radio Station WWVA in Wheeling, West
Virginia as their Staff Fiddler. He travelled the United States and Canada
extensively working with many country and bluegrass bands. During this period,
he also appeared as back-up musician on the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville
Tennessee.
In the early 1960's, Peter returned home to Canada. He then established a music
business while continuing composing and recording fiddle music.
Peter has recorded a number of albums, going as far back as 1958, several of
which are still available. The latest is "Cuttin the Grass"CD, 2007. Others still available include:
"Re-Pete Performance" CD, 2004, "For Pete's Sake' CD and cassette, 2001;"Owl in the Henhouse", CD and cassette,
1999; "Star of Calabogie", CD and cassette, 1998; "Peter Dawson Live", cassette;
"From the mountains to the sea" (bluegrass) cassette; "Fiddling for Folk",
cassette; "The best darn fiddling in the world", cassette; and "Home sweet
home", cassette.
Peter was inducted into the North American Fiddlers Hall of
Fame, Osceola, New York, as of July, 2005. |
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