Dixie Flyers
Canadian bluegrass band
title: "Dixie Flyers" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["musical-groups-established-in-1974", "musical-groups-from-london,-ontario", "canadian-bluegrass-music-groups", "1974-establishments-in-ontario"] description: "Canadian bluegrass band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Flyers" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Canadian bluegrass band ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Dixie Flyers (bluegrass band) |
| landscape | |
| origin | London, Ontario, Canada |
| genre | bluegrass |
| years_active | –present |
| label | Boot, Flat top |
| website | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the bluegrass band ::
| name = Dixie Flyers (bluegrass band) | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | alias = | origin = London, Ontario, Canada | genre = bluegrass | years_active = –present | label = Boot, Flat top | associated_acts = | website = | current_members = | past_members =
The Dixie Flyers were a Canadian bluegrass band based in London, Ontario, Canada. The band first came together in 1974, and became one of Canada's best known bluegrass bands.
Career
Original members of the band were guitarist Bert Baumbach, mandolinist Ken Palmer, harmonica player Willie P. Bennett, bassist Brian Abbey and Dennis LePage on the banjo. Although lead vocalists Baumbach and Palmer have been continuous members, over the years the band has seen a number of changes in the lineup. Dixie Flyer band members have included:
- Guitar: Bert Baumbach
- Fiddle: Gordon Stobbe, Peter Robertson (miscredited on at least one Boot Records album as "Peter Robinson"), and John P. Allen.
- Mandolin: Ken Palmer (died October 30, 2013)
- Bass: Brian Abbey, David Zdriluk, Luke Maynard, and Chris Ingram
- Banjo: Dennis LePage, David Jack, David Talbot, Paul Hurdle, Walter Maynard, and Darin Parise
- Harmonica: Willie P. Bennett (died February 15, 2008) and Mike Ethelston
- Dobro: Al Widmeyer, Blair Heddle, Darin Parise
The Dixie Flyers played at the Carlisle Bluegrass Festival in 1975, The band also played at the Cambridge Millrace Festival and the Blueberry Bluegrass Festival in Stony Plain, Alberta. They also played several times at the Canterbury Folk Festival in Ingersoll, Ontario. The band performed regularly at the Flint Folk and Bluegrass Festival in Michigan.
The Flyers recorded a series of albums on the Boot Records label during the 1970s. The band appeared on the Tommy Hunter Show, and for a time managed the Back 40 Bluegrass Festival at Woodstock, Ont.
After a last stand with The Flyers at the Elgin County international plowing match in the fall of 2010, Ken Palmer retired due to heart problems. The band played on briefly without him before going on indefinite hiatus. On October 30, 2013, Ken Palmer died at the age of 65 after a bout of pneumonia contracted after a heart transplant. A few months earlier, in the spring of 2013, the band had been inducted into the London (Ontario) Music Hall of Fame, with both Palmer and Baumbach in attendance.
Discography
Albums: ::data[format=table]
| Name of Album | Label | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Light, Medium, Heavy | Boot Records | 1977 |
| For Our Friends | Boot Records | 1980 |
| ''Just Pickin''' | Boot Records | 1978 |
| Cheaper to Lease | Boot Records | 1978 |
| Five by Five | Boot Records | 1981 |
| New Horizons | Stony Plain | 1984 |
| Business as Usual | Boot Records | 1987 |
| Live at the Wellington Tavern | Flat Top | 1990 |
| Right on Track | Flat Top | 2005 |
| :: |
References
References
- (October 30, 2013). "Ken Palmer put the 'man' in mandolin –R.I.P.".
- "The Canadian Encyclopedia".
- "London Free Press Columnist: Ames Reaney - Flyers mark 30 years of gi…".
- "Celebrating 35 years of making music | Londoner".
- "Dixie Flyers Right on Track".
- Thompson, Richard. (November 4, 2013). "Ken Palmer passes".
- where they met [[Bill Monroe]], and were subsequently invited to play at Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival in Indiana, USA.Adler, Thomas, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GAbnm5EdCu0C&dq=dixie+flyers+bluegrass&pg=PA160 ''Bean Blossom: The Brown County Jamboree and Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Festivals''], p. 160, [[University of Illinois Press]], 2011,
- (February 26, 2013). "Jack Richardson music awards". [[The London Free Press]].
- "Dixie Flyers land in Cambridge for bluegrass concert | guelphmercury".
- "Festival History — Blueberry Bluegrass & Country Music Society Festival".
- "Archived copy".
- "Ken Palmer has retired from the Dixie Flyers. Last fall. | James' Brand New Blog".
- (October 30, 2013). "Ken Palmer dead at 65 after catching pneumonia follow a heart transplant at University Hospital". [[The London Free Press]].
- "The Dixie Flyers Receive JRMA Hall Of Fame Honours – Country Music Association of Ontario".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::