A Tribuite to John Allan Cameron

John Allan is still one of my favourite singers. His voice was unlike anyone else's. There is only one John Allan. Listening to the records today still brings me back to the many times that I saw him live. Mom and Dad would take us to see him, every time that he came to Pictou County. His show at the West Pictou High School in 1981 was the first concert that I ever saw. We lucked out that night because Stan Rogers was the opening act. Watching that concert from our front row seats changed my life. I would not be playing the style of music that I play today if it wasn't for that night. In fact, I might not be playing music at all. I'd like to mention as an interesting side note that Allie Bennett that worked on this project with me was the bass player for that 1981 cross-Canada tour with Stan and John Allan.

Throughout my career I've had the opportunity to work with some of my heroes. Almost twenty years after seeing him for the first time, I had the great pleasure of working with John Allan. Between 2000 and 2002 I played bass and acoustic guitar for him for many shows throughout the Maritimes and Ontario. He was an extremely generous artist to work for. He's always get me to sing a couple of my songs half way through his show to feature me. "Folks' I've got a young singer songwriter here with me tonight and I want you to hear him." Talking with him backstage was always interesting and fun and he truly had a genuine interest in helping young up-and-coming musicians. He was my first major influence and not only was he my hero, he was my friend.
-Dave Gunning