Barn Dance 23: Doug Dietrich has spent two decades as the man behind the music
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
For over 20 years, Doug Dietrich has been the man behind the music for the Barn Dance Campout and Jamboree in Blyth, serving as its musical director since 2000. As a result, he has a mind full of memories about the event that has meant so much to him over the last two decades.
Dietrich doesn’t just talk the talk, though, he walks the walk, as he has served as the pedal steel guitar player in the Barn Dance house band since beginning his time with the organization. That has not only been a point of pride for him, but one of consistency, as he has been fortunate to have many of the same band mates for the last 20 years, only just recently losing his fiddle player. That level of familiarity among band members who have to learn new melodies ahead of every show has helped mold the quality of the Barn Dance musical experience into what it is today.
Dietrich remembers his friend and fellow musician Wayne Otterbein asking Dietrich if he’d consider playing in the band at the annual show. Larry Mercey, the famed Barn Dance stalwart, had also asked Dietrich if he wanted to get involved.
Later that year, he took on the job of being the musical director for the shows, a position he still holds to this day.
He called the event a “definite eye-opener” for someone who had been in love with old country music for so long and he was glad to get a bit more involved.
Dietrich said he has been in a band in some form since he was 14 years old, so he’s spent much of his life making music, as he’s set to turn 72 this July.
He says the show has been great for years, but embattled recently ever since the COVID-19 pandemic first struck. Dietrich feels that it peaked just a bit before the pandemic shut down the world, with one of his favourite memories being when Canada’s Country Gentleman, Tommy Hunter, was honoured by the Barn Dance Historical Society with one of its coveted Pioneer Awards at the end of the 2018 show in Blyth.
Dietrich thinks it will be nice to have one final show in a community that has meant so much to the Barn Dance over the years.
He also remembers other Pioneer Award presentations that have really moved the needle over the years, like when Gordon Lightfoot was presented with one of the awards. Dietrich said this moment was top of mind for him while speaking with The Citizen, because the Canadian music legend had just passed away.
A representative of the society caught up with Lightfoot after one of his shows in Orillia at Casino Rama to present the award. Highlights from that interaction were then shared at subsequent Barn Dance events. That was the same year that Shania Twain was honoured with an award, although Dietrich said a video was supposed to be shown at one of the Barn Dance events later that year.
He also reflected back on many of the established acts that have been part of the Barn Dance over the years, whether it be founders Earl and Martha Heywood, George Hamilton IV, Tommy Hunter, Larry Mercey or Gordie Tapp.
However, as much as the Barn Dance Campout and Jamboree has focused on established talent, Dietrich says, it’s also been about bringing along a younger generation that has an appreciation for the traditional country music the event celebrates.
The fostering of young talent has been evident, he says, in the acts that have grown up in front of some of the audiences.
This year’s line-up, for example, includes Naomi Bristow, who has performed at the Barn Dance event before. Dietrich remembers when she performed on the Friday night open stage when she was just about nine years old.
“The open stage back-up musicians had a little trouble falling into the song she was trying to sing/yodel. She came off the stage and went out the back door in tears,” Dietrich said in an e-mail to The Citizen. “I was watching this and could tell she had lots of talent. I had never met her, but I went around and met her and her mom in the parking lot and she has been a regular on the Barn Dance ever since, having a successful music career.
“The Barn Dance has been a good venue to promote young and local talent over the years.”
He also mentioned the success of the Sunday morning Gospel show in recent years. It all began with Ernie King, Dietrich said, and it grew year after year from there.
This year’s show will feature Jim Swan, as always, as the master of ceremonies. Larry Mercey, Paul Weber, Naomi Bristow, Al Widmeyer, Jim Otterbein, Linda Elder and Lance Russwurm will be the performers at this year’s event, while the Barn Dance Band will consist of Grant Heywood on the drums, Frew Lewis on the lead guitar, Al Alderson on the bass, Ian Leith on the fiddle and Dietrich on the pedal steel guitar.
Dietrich says this will be the first Gospel show that Ron Coulthard won’t be playing the keyboards. He was a long-time musician and director with the Barn Dance Society, but he passed away last year.