Fred, the fiddle player in one of the groups I play with turned 70 not too long ago too, though you'd easily believe he was 20 years younger, for all his energy and stamina.

He did some TV work, including a few appearances on the CBC's "Country Hoedown" and "Tommy Hunter Show", as well as recording in Nashville and touring all over in his younger days. And is a goldmine of stories from "the old days".

At a rehearsal last year, we started talking about Lightfoot. We had a train-oriented gig coming up and I half-jokingly suggested we cover "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". Fred said he remembered playing the "Country Hoedown" one time and talking to Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot was quitting the show to pursue his singer-songwriter career. Fred said he thought the boy crazy at the time, giving up a regular sweet gig like that.