Nestor Pistor is the stage name of Don Ast, 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 ...

comedian of Romanian heritage who performs in the character of a heavily accented Ukrainian immigrant. He has been a three-time

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

nominee for Comedy Album of the Year, receiving two nominations at the Juno Awards of 1979 for his albums ''Nestor Pistor for Prime Minister'' and ''Best of Nestor Pistor'' and one nomination at the Juno Awards of 1980 for the self-titled ''Nestor Pistor'', and a nominee for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the

Juno Awards of 1977 The Juno Awards of 1977, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 16 March 1977 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by David Steinberg at the Royal York Hotel. The ceremonies were broadcast on a 2-hour ...

. Pistor began performing in the 1970s on the comedy circuit in Western Canada, and released two albums, ''Live'' (1974) and ''Here We Go Again'' (1975) before breaking through to national attention in 1976 with his third album ''Winestoned Plowboy''. Backed by the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

group Prairie Fire, the album deviated from Ast's usual

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

act and instead featured him singing country songs in character as Pistor. Its title track, a parody of

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

's " Rhinestone Cowboy", was a charting hit in '' RPM's'' country music charts, peaking at #16 in the week of February 12, 1977. The album was certified gold by February 1977, and resulted in Pistor's Juno nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist; by March 1977, both of his earlier albums were also charting in the ''RPM'' 100 Albums chart. He released several further albums by 1980, receiving his three Juno Award nominations for Comedy Album of the Year in 1979 and 1980. He faded in prominence in the 1980s, but still performs occasional shows. In 2019, he celebrated 50 years of performing, with shows in British Columbia and Alberta.

Discography

*''Nestor Pistor Live At World Championship Snowgolf, Prince George BC'' (1974) (#78) *''Here We Go Again - Nestor Pistor #2'' (1975) (#84) *''Winestoned Plowboy'' (1977) *''Nestor Pistor for Prime Minister'' (1978) *''Almost Alive'' (1978) *''It's a Heartburn'' (1980) *''Beer Commercials Drive Me...Nuts n Radio & TV' (1980) *''Plugged In'' (1997)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pistor, Nestor Canadian country singers Canadian comedy musicians Canadian stand-up comedians Musicians from Saskatchewan Living people Canadian people of Romanian descent 20th-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian comedians Year of birth missing (living people) Comedians from Saskatchewan Canadian male comedians Ukrainian-Canadian culture Ethnic jokes