“I had a pop music tribute group on the road, I had Charley Pride ready to start a Canadian tour and all of a sudden, our plans were turned upside down (by the pandemic),” said Edwards from his Peterborough, Ont., office of Rocklands Entertainment.

No one could accurately forecast how long the pandemic would last, so Edwards went to work on a book, where he shared the writing with Ed Arnold, an Ontario journalist.

The book, The Promoter, is about the Edwards’ plunge into a music career which reached its 40th year in 2020. He presented more than 5,000 concerts, touching every Canadian province and at least 35 of America’s states. He has travelled more than three million miles.

In a tremendous show of trust and loyalty with artists; his lineup of stars has included Wilf Carter, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells and her husband Johnnie Wright, Charley Pride, Tommy Hunter, Frank Mills, Rita MacNeil, Stompin’ Tom Connors and Red Green.

CHARLEY PRIDE A GOOD FRIEND

Edwards has always reached deeply into Western Canada and he’s booked into 16 different Saskatchewan communities. Most of his concerts in Saskatoon have been at TCU Place.

“There was an unforgettable experience with a show, headlined by Kitty Wells and Wilf Carter, in 1984. A bad snow storm forced us to cancel a show in Saskatoon one night. We flew to Penticton, sold out two shows the same day in the high school theatre and then turned around and came back to Saskatoon to make up our cancelled date.”

The lessons he learned from the early days have stood him in good stead. Most of shows start at 7 p.m., ideal for the seniors who dominate his crowds. He is usually at the concession stand before the show and then organizes the autograph sessions with the entertainers afterwards.

Edwards enriched his book with much detail about all his associates. But mostly, he examined the unique values, the generosity and the sentimentality of his artists.

Edwards and Pride began working together in 1992, and reached an exclusive agreement in 2004. Pride died Dec. 12 at the age of 86. Some of Pride’s concerts, scheduled early in 2020, had been rescheduled for November 2021.

“His loss was such a horrible blow to me, but when I think back, what a good friend and good man he was,” said Edwards.

“In 1992, Jackie Sharp of Edmonton got caught up in a ticket-selling mix-up and paid $932 for two third balcony seats. Her son wrote to Charley’s website. Charley wasn’t very happy. We made a special trip to Edmonton and I called a media conference outside of the Rexall store where she worked. Charley gave her two front row tickets for the upcoming concert and an envelope of money to cover what she’d spent, and said the ticketing system was absolutely wrong. That was Charley, through and through.”

Hunter was a 27-year veteran on Canadian TV. After his show was cancelled by the CBC in May 1992, he hooked up with Edwards and they toured until Hunter retired from singing in 2012. They’d done over 1,000 shows together.

“We were in Regina one day and a lady fell outside the theatre on her way to the show. After the second show, Tommy went to the hospital where the woman was sitting in the emergency ward, all bandaged up. It was a magic moment for her. He’s visited the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, too. Often, he’d promise tickets to the people for the next shows Tommy would do in their city. Never once did we call the media for publicity reasons. He did so much kind stuff that people didn’t witness.”

STOMPIN’ TOM A CHARACTER

Another of the most interesting Canadian characters was Stompin’ Tom Connors, who worked with Edwards from 1998 until he died in March 2013.

“The Hockey Song was one of his trademarks. When Maple Leaf Gardens closed down in 1999, they asked Tom to sing his song. When Wayne Gretzky went into Hockey’s Hall of Fame, Tom sang again. There’s a line in the song, ‘Someone roars, Bobby scores at the good ole hockey game.’ Bobby Orr thought it was about him. So did Bobby Hull. At the Gretzky dinner, Tom sang ‘Someone roars, Gretzky scores.’

“One year, Queen Elizabeth came to Canada. Buckingham Palace was a little worried about Tom wearing his back hat in the presence of the Queen. Nobody ever stopped Tom from doing that. He goes into the lineup and whatever the Queen said to him, he just about fell over and the Queen laughed and laughed. Then he told her a joke and she just about fell over. All the while, the hat never left his head.”

Edwards was one the Canadians who discovered songbird Rita MacNeil when she was performing at Expo86 in Vancouver. He said, “She was a performer with heart, soul, generosity and a treasure in my life.”

MACNEIL MET CELINE DION

One of MacNeil’s aims in life was to meet another Canadian, Celine Dion, so Edwards made it happen.

“Celine was performing at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Tickets were scarce. They created a space for four box seats near the stage. Rita was so excited that after every song, she stood up and applauded. After the show, we were invited into a humungous suite. Only the four of us.

“All of a sudden, in walks Celine. Rita just melts, the tears come out of her eyes, she hugs and hugs and hugs Celine. Rita says ‘We won’t stay.’ Celine says ‘Sit down, sit down, we’re going to have a visit.’ They had a visit. Can you imagine two Canadian legends meeting that way!”

Connors died March 6, 2013; MacNeil died April 16, 2013. Edwards played a role in both funerals. He won the argument with the RCMP, getting permission that Connors’ black hat could rest on top of the Canadian flag on the casket.

Edwards doesn’t think whether any promoter can follow in his footsteps.

“To me, it’s been a great journey. I’ve worked with the greatest people in the world. If we cannot safely return to our industry, I will have no regrets.”

The book is available at www. rocklandsentertainment.com or by calling 1-800-465-7829.

-Ned Powers