John P. Allen (musician)

John P. Allen is a Canadian country, rock and bluegrass fiddler.

Allen was a member of the rock band Great Speckled Bird in the 1970s, and played with bluegrass bands the Good Brothers, Big Redd Ford and the Dixie Flyers.[1][2] He played country fiddle as a member of Tommy Hunter's band. Allen joined the country band Prairie Oyster in 1982, with whom he won six Juno awards.[3][4][5][6]

In 2005 Allen recorded an album, The Canadian ̶ F̶̶i̶̶d̶̶d̶̶l̶̶e̶ Violin, featuring a mix of original music and a few carefully chosen covers covering a wide range of musical styles.[3][7] The album was produced Sonny Besen Thrasher, son of Allen's Prairie Oyster bandmate Joan Besen.[8] A second solo album, A Canadian Portrait, followed in 2008 sticking more closely to traditional country music.

Allen experienced cardio-vascular health problems in the spring of 2019 resulting in a successful heart transplant, but has been unable to work since (as of December 2019). A star-studded benefit was held for him in Thorndale, Ontario on December 8, 2019.[9]

As a member of Prairie Oyster, Allen was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. He was inducted into the Forest City London Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2019.[10]

  1. ^ Lederman, Ann; Christina Smith. "Fiddling". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Dominion. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Dixie Flyers". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Dominion. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b Quill, Greg, "CD Reviews - John P. Allen:The Canadian Violin". Toronto Daily Star, 28 April 2005
  4. ^ "Prairie Oyster, BMG, Hope to Turn U.S. Tide with New 'Moon'", Billboard, 30 Apr 1994
  5. ^ Country music matinees kick off with six-time Juno winner, St. Catherines Standard, 30 April 2010
  6. ^ CCMA Honors Canadian Country, Billboard, 1 Sep 1996 - Page 47
  7. ^ John P. Allen The Canadian Violin, CD review, exclaim.ca, August 2005
  8. ^ "Sunny Besen Thrasher". IMDb.
  9. ^ "Musicians gather at Purple Hill to help Canadian fiddle icon John P. Allen".
  10. ^ "Class of 2019 – FCLMA". fclma.ca. Archived from the original on 2019-05-13.