Alexander Peter Chernywech (November 1, 1932 – August 25, 1989) recording as Al Cherny, was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

. He studied with Frank Nowak and played country music on

CHAT-FM CHAT-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a country format at 94.5 FM in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The station is owned by the Jim Pattison Group. History The station originally began broadcasting as an AM station on November 1, 1946, ...

. Cherney won the Canadian Old Time Fiddlers' Contest in Ontario, under the novelty class from 1959 to 1961 and the open class in both 1960 and 1961. In the early 1970s, he was a leading studio musician, recording with musician like Gary Buck,

Dick Damron Joseph Glenn "Dick" Damron (March 22, 1934 – March 29, 2025) was a Canadian country music singer and songwriter. Damron experimented with many musical styles in the country genre, including outlaw, rockabilly, and honky-tonk, as well as gospel ...

Tommy Hunter Thomas James Hunter, CM, O.Ont (born March 20, 1937) is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman". Career In 1956, he began performing as a rhythm guitarist on the CBC Television show, ''Country Hoedown''. ''Th ...

, Jesse Winchester and

Sylvia Tyson Sylvia Tyson, (''née'' Fricker; born 19 September 1940) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and broadcaster. She is best known as part of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia, with Ian Tyson. Since 1993, she has been a member of the all-female folk ...

. He released more than ten studio albums and received an RPM Big Country Award for Top Country Instrumentalist in 1978. From 1964, until his passing in 1989, Cherny was a regular, featured musician on the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's ''The Tommy Hunter Show''. Cherny met

when he worked at CKNX in Wingham, Ontario.

Legacy

He was posthumously inducted into the

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame honours Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased. The artifact collection includes extensive biographical information on the inductees. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame can ...

in 1989. He also performed regularly on '' The Tommy Hunter Show'', until his death in 1989, of lung cancer.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * as Cherney * as Cherny
Al Cherney
on

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

* 1989 deaths 1932 births 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian folk fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Deaths from lung cancer in Canada Musicians from Alberta People from Medicine Hat 20th-century Canadian male musicians {{Canada-musician-stub