Neville Wells (born 1940) is a

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 ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

performer. He was born 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 grew up in

Ompah, Ontario Ompah is a village in eastern Ontario, Canada, located in the township of North Frontenac, approximately southwest of Ottawa. The village is situated close to many lakes including Palmerston Lake, Canonto Lake, Sunday Lake, and Mosque Lake. Omp ...

. He began his musical career singing and playing guitar in the Ompah Dance Hall. In 1959, Wells moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. During the 1960s, he was a member of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

group The Children, which also included

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...

David Wiffen David Wiffen (born 11 March 1942) is an English-Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards. Early life Wiffen was born in Redhill, Surrey, England.

, William Hawkins,

Sneezy Waters Sneezy Waters (born Peter Hodgson; March 1, 1945) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and actor who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hank Williams Sr. in the play and film ''Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave''. He also w ...

, Sandy Crawley and Richard Patterson. In April 1980, he started a monthly newspaper, ''Capital County News'', later known as ''

Country Music News ''Country Music News'' was a Canadian monthly periodical published in Ottawa by Larry Delaney and Joanne Delaney. It calls itself "The Voice Of Country Music in Canada". Overview ''Country Music News'' was first published on 1 April 1980. The mag ...

''. He was named ''Country Music Person of the Year'' in 1984 by the

Canadian Country Music Association The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a g ...

. In 1978, Wells established a long-running country music festival, the Ompah Stomp. Wells was inducted into the

Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Fame Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...

in 1994. More recently, Wells has played

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

for the band ''Bytown Bluegrass''.

Discography

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Neville Canadian country singer-songwriters 1940 births Living people Musicians from Ontario Canadian male singers Canadian male singer-songwriters