Stompin Tom Connors Canadian country and folk singer Date of Birth: 09.02.1936 Country: Canada

Biography of Stompin' Tom Connors

Charles Thomas Connors, known as Stompin' Tom Connors, was born on February 9, 1936, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. His parents, Isabel Connors and her boyfriend Thomas Sullivan, were very young and had just entered their teenage years. Tom spent a short time with his mother in a women's correctional facility before being taken into the care of the Children's Aid Society and subsequently adopted by the Aylward family from Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.

At the age of 13, Tom left his adoptive family and hitchhiked across Canada. This journey lasted for the next 13 years of his life, during which Connors earned money through odd jobs and wrote songs while playing the guitar. Eventually, he found himself in Timmins, Ontario, which became a turning point for him. At the Maple Leaf Hotel's bar, Tom discovered he didn't have enough change for a beer, and bartender Gaet Lepine agreed to give him a beer if he played a few songs. These few songs resonated so well with the audience that they turned into a 13-month contract. Tom performed at the hotel, made regular appearances on the local radio station, and this marked the beginning of his music career.

In the mid-1970s, Connors wrote and recorded the song "The Consumer," an ode to paying bills, which became the musical theme for the popular consumer program "Marketplace" on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). For the first few seasons, Connors' name appeared in the opening credits of the program until the song was replaced, first with an instrumental version and then with a completely different theme. In 1974, Tom hosted a series of programs on CBC Television called "Stompin' Tom's Canada," where he welcomed his colleagues from all corners of Canada. The series consisted of 26 episodes, each lasting 30 minutes.

Connors' songs are typically dedicated to Canadian history and everyday life, which he observed and noted from his childhood. Some of his best-known songs include "Bud the Spud," "Big Joe Mufferaw," "The Black Donnellys," "The Martin Hartwell Story," "Reesor Crossing Tragedy," "Sudbury Saturday Night," and "The Hockey Song," which is often played at National Hockey League (NHL) games. Interestingly, Tom maintained a close relationship with the bartender he befriended in Timmins, and they co-wrote many songs together.

In the late 1970s, he announced that he was retiring from music and retreated to his farm. His voluntary retirement lasted for about 12 years, but in 1988, as interest in his work was revived, Connors released "Fiddle and Song," his first album since 1977. To this day, Stompin' Tom Connors' songs remain popular, and he continues to tour extensively despite his age.