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

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. 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 synonymous, the ...

. 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 a ...

. 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 Gary may refer to: * Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;U ...

Dick Damron Dick Damron (born Joseph Glenn Damron, March 22, 1934 in Bentley, AlbertaCCMA Hall of Fame
) is a C ...

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 may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) * Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter * Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive *Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer cre ...

. 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'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. It is located in downtown Merritt, ...

in 1989. He also performed regularly on ''

The Tommy Hunter Show 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 ...

'', 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; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

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