Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers (sometimes stylized as "Buddy Wasisname & The Other Fellers", though the official name does not contain the "&" symbol) is a musical and comedy trio from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, founded in 1983 and composed of Kevin Blackmore ("

Buddy Wasisname Kevin Luke Blackmore, who performs under the stage name Buddy Wasisname, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, comedian, and dramatist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Blackmore is best known as leader of the band Buddy Wasisname and the Other ...

"), Wayne Chaulk, Byron Pardy and Ray Johnson ("The Other Fellers"). The group specializes in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, and performs comedic skits and stand-up routines."Thirty years of foolishness and tears: Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers “still kickin'”"
''The Independent'', March 18, 2013 Chaulk performs on bass or

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, Johnson on

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, and Blackmore on

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and improvised percussion instruments including Tupperware lids and garbage bags. Byron Pardy performs on bass and backing vocals. All three musicians sing and write songs which reflect their Newfoundland heritage; Johnson also arranges traditional accordion numbers for the band to perform. Their recordings range from serious reflections on Newfoundland culture to light-hearted tales that border on the ridiculous (e.g. "Is You 'Appy?" and "Chainsaw Earle")."Buddy Wasisname & The Other Fellers part of Barrie comedy festival"
''Barrie Examiner'', By Susan Doolan, August 21, 2016 They have produced twenty albums.

Name

The group's name, and the names of many of their albums and songs, contain

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

spellings of colloquial contractions and phrases native to Newfoundland, which would normally only be spoken aloud and in an informal setting. This reflects the group's focus on Newfoundland culture; most Newfoundlanders immediately recognize the intended meanings despite the atypical spelling. The band name plays on Newfoundlanders' habit of rapidly slurring words together; "wasisname" is a contraction of "what's his name?"; however, in Newfoundland "Buddy Wasisname" is simply a version of "I can't remember his name". "Fellers" is simply a dialectal form of "fellas" or "fellows".

History

Two of the group's members (Johnson and Chaulk) were school teachers prior to forming the band. Their first album, ''Makin' For the Harbour'' was self-released in 1986. The album relied heavily on Newfoundland standards and Blackmore's comedy numbers; "Gotta Get Me Moose B'y" would become their early career signature tune, and remains one of their more popular songs. Their next album was ''Nods'N'Winks'', which was released in 1988. The group's third album, ''Flatout'', was released in 1990, and contains "Saltwater Joys", the band's most requested concert song. Another song on the album, "Peein' in the Snow" also became a hit after being performed on several comedy programs. In 1992, they released ''The Miracle Cure'', the band's best-selling album. This album contains "Chainsaw Earle"; several traditional songs and "The Pits", for which a video was produced. In 1993, the band released ''100% Pure''. It includes The "Song for Newfoundland", an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

anthem written by Chaulk, has often been covered often by Newfoundland vocal groups. The album contains the well-known song "By The Glow Of The Kerosene Light", written by Wince Coles, which featured additional players on cello, harp and piano, an arrangement not often seen in the group's catalogue. At the 1994 East Coast Music Awards, Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers won the award for Live Artist of the Year and the award for Group Recording of the Year. The group's next album, ''Salt Beef Junkie'', includes original songs of the same type, but the arrangements deviate from their usual style. The opening track features a full rock backing band in addition to Chaulk's guitar and Johnson's accordion; "He's A Part Of Me" features the same backing trio as "Kerosene Light"; and many of the tracks feature George Morgan's drum machines. The group maintains an active touring schedule throughout the

Atlantic provinces Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

and other

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

cities. In 2017, when their website was last updated, they reported playing 58 concerts. At the East Coast Music Association's 2021 ECMA Awards, Buddy Wasisname & The Other Fellers received the

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited with writing more than 300 songs and has rele ...

Award, in recognition of their long-term contribution to the East Coast music industry. On December 29, 2022, Blackmore, Chaulk and Johnson were named Members of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Makin' for the Harbour'' (1986), World Records * ''Nods 'N Winks'' (1988), Third Wave Productions* * ''Flatout'' (1990), Third Wave Productions * ''The Miracle Cure'' (1992), Third Wave Productions * ''100% Pure'' (1993), Third Wave Productions * ''Salt Beef Junkie'' (1995), Third Wave Productions * ''Pop The Rivets'' (1996), Third Wave Productions** * ''Up On Bust'' (1996) ''(Comedy Album)'', Third Wave Productions * ''d'Lard Liftin' ''(1998), Third Wave Productions * ''The Big Tump'' (2000), Third Wave Productions * ''Up Boot'' (2002), Third Wave Productions * ''Whipper Snipper'' (2004), Third Wave Productions * ''The Shed'' (2005), Third Wave Productions * ''The Big Two Five'' (2009), Third Wave Productions * ''Wring 'Er Out'' (2013), Third Wave Productions *Misspelled as "''Nods N' Winks''" on some cassette copies and all CD copies. **Stylized as "''... Pop The Rivets...''" on the front cover.

Compilations

* ''Greatest Misses'' (1999), Third Wave Productions * ''The Serious Stuff'' (2001), Third Wave Productions * ''I'm Looney'' (2002), Third Wave Productions * ''Take 'er Johnson'' (2007), Third Wave Productions * ''The Serious Stuff Volume 2'' (2010), Third Wave Productions

DVDs

* ''Up Boot'' (2003) * ''Pop the Rivets'' (2007) * ''The Dirty Big DVD'' (2008) * ''LaffYerArseOff'' (2013) * ''The Last Laff'' (2017)

References

External links

Buddy Wasisname Official Band Homepage
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian comedy musical groups Canadian folk music groups