Karl Lofstrom Was born on October 12, 1925 in Fredericton, NB. He learned to play the guitar when he was a boy and enjoyed singing western songs.
He had his own radio show on Radio Station CFNB in the early 1950’s playing both the early morning slot on weekdays at 6:30am and the 2:47pm slot on Saturday afternoons. He moved to CJCJ Radio in Woodstock in 1959.
Karl was employed in his family’s construction business. He was married and had two children.
He wrote many of his own songs and had his first recording date in 1950 releasing a single, “Castle of Cards” backed with “Walk Ever Close to Me”. In 1953 he released an LP “Some Country - Some Yodel with Karl Lofstrom”. The LP was on the Banff label.
Known as the “Yodelling Nightherder”, Karl and his friend Aubrey Hanson made many personal appearances throughout the province as well as appearing together on radio station CFNB.
Some of Karl’s compositions were, “Walk Ever Close to Me”, “Where the Nashwaak Stream in Flowing”, “Queen of the Cowgirls”, “When the Snowbirds Fly Out O’er the Rockies”.
Karl died in 1969 at the age of 44.
The Diamond Trio was organized in 1959 by Ron Bailey, a Fredericton musician. The group performed on Radio Station CFNB, with Ron on vocals, Duane Pond on bass and Wayne Nightingale on guitar. Later they decided to work more as a vocal trio and the group took the name The Diamond Trio since they were sponsored by the local cab company called Diamond Taxi. Mr. Bailey stayed with the trio a short time and was replaced by Allan Sherwood. The trio’s style was polished and refined as their voices blended together in close harmony.
Their first appearance on TV was on CHSJ’s “Spotlight on Talent”. The Diamond Trio appeared on Don Messer’s Jubilee approximately 3 to 4 times a year between 1960 and 1970. This national exposure led to many engagements in the Maritimes and Maine.
The trio also produced its own “Diamond Trio Show” on CJSJ-TV in Saint John over a period of three summers and appeared on the Earl Mitton Show and the Maritime Farmers Show. They appeared on the CBC show “Gazette”, and together with Marg Osborne starred in a number of times on a national radio program featuring the Sing-Along Jubilee Singers, Anne Murray and Catherine MacKinnon. At the same time the TV shows were being presented, the trio maintained its radio show on Radio Station CFNB and on CBC Radio in Fredericton.
The Diamond Trio took a break from performances during the period of 1970 to 1983 but decided, at that time, to reunite for the purpose of public appearances and to present another radio series. Recently they have appeared on CHSJ’s “Variety” in Saint John, and the ATV series “Up Home Tonight”.
The trio is currently appearing every Sunday evening on Country KHJ-FM Radio in Fredericton. The Diamond Trio’s repertoire is wide and varied, including several original songs written by Allan, Duane and Wayne; however, they are best known for their rendition of the western classics, particularly songs originally performed by the Sons of the Pioneers.
The trio plans to continue performing as a group for two main reasons: they have always been very close friends and they love singing together.
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