Stompin’ Tom Connors
One of Canada’s best kept secrets is a folk singer/country singer named Stompin’ Tom Connors. Fiercely Canadian, he returned a number of Juno awards one year in protest of those artists who had shifted their emphasis to the “south of the border market.” Stompin’ Tom earned his name for the way that he kept his beat by rythymically stomping his foot as he played. After receiving complaints about wearing down stage floors he began to bring his own sheet of plywood to stomp on. Generally ignored by pop radio, Stompin’ Tom nevertheless acquired a huge, inter-generational following and along with Don Messer, Tommy Hunter, Hank Snow, and others, has become an icon and source of national pride.
Here’s a recent snow sculpture of Stompin’ Tom that was an entry in a snow sculpture contest and below it is Stompin’ Tom’s response.
“To Abram, Asher and Ben Waterman, and Team Prince Edward Island. All I can say is WOW! And Congratulations on the great job you guys did on the Snow Sculpture “Stompin’ Tom & the Hockey Song”. Your theme could not be more “Canadian” and I hope you win the competition. It’s awsome!”