Earl Mitton was born in Moncton , New Brunswick in 1926 and at the age of 6 months moved to Stewiake , Nova Scotia and later lived in Amherst , Nova Scotia . He enlisted in the Canadian Army at Fredericton , NB in 1944 and served until 1946. His first fiddle was a gift from his father.
He moved to Fredericton in 1947 and there formed the band called the Valley Rhythm Boys in 1950. Jack Fenety of CFNB gave the group its name when he was doing the announcing chores on the broadcast. Earl along with the Valley Rhythm Boys did a live radio show from Radio Station CFNB for 10 years. He recorded three albums for Quality Records, on of which is entitled “Down East Fiddling”.
Earl competed in the North American Fiddling Contest at Shelburne , Ontario and finished in the top three in 1957-1958. Earl and his group had a weekly TV series on CHSJ-TV in Saint John for a period of three years.
Earl was a close personal friend of the late Don Messer and appeared many times on his coast-to-coast television show. One of his biggest thrills was his first meeting with Don Messer in 1943. “Earl Mitton's Breakdown” was featured on one of Don Messer's recordings.
As well as being an accomplished musician, Earl is a composer. Among his compositions are the “New Brunswick Hornpipe”, “Blue Violet Breakdown”, “The Carleton County Hornpipe” and “Earl Mitton's Breakdown”.
Along with the fiddle, Earl also plays drums and guitar. He played clarinet and saxophone in the Fredericton City Concert & Marching Band. He made several appearances with the RCR Band as guest violinist – one of which at The Silver Broom in 1980. He received a letter of appreciation from Lieutenant Governor Stanley for his appearance with this band at the Fredericton Playhouse.
Earl and his wife Phyllis still make their home in Fredericton . They have two sons, Richard and Brian and a grandson Andrew.
George W. "Bud" Brown was born in Fredericton in 1926. He was educated in the city schools and in 1945, while attending the University of New Brunswick , joined radio station CFNB as a part-time announcer. In March of 1949, after a two-year period in the Royal Bank, he came back to CFNB as a full-time announcer where his popular WESTERN SWING program was number one with country music fans. In 1953, along with his duties as Retail Sales Manager, he MC'd and produced the first CAPITAL CO-OP SATURDAY NIGHT JAMBOREE in Teacher's College auditorium. For the next nine years this program was to remain the number one live country music radio stage show in Atlantic Canada and Bud Brown scripted, selected all the artists, announced, and produced every one of the shows!
Many well-known artists and groups received valuable stage and radio exposure on the Jamborees including Earl Mitton and the Valley Rhythm Boys, Gordie Cole and the Millers, The Sunshine Boys and the Casa Loma Rhythmaires from the Minto Area, the late Freddie McKenna (who was the show's very first talent show winner), The Diamond Trio, Allan Sherwood, Aubrey Hanson and Karl Lofstrom , all from Fredericton, George Hector from Gagetown and the Phillips Brothers and Lorraine from Cumberland Bay, just to mention a few. In the fall of 1957, Bud took the Jamboree ON THE ROAD and during the next five years over 4,000 artists in over 65 localities in the Maritimes were given their chance to perform when the Co-Op Jamboree came to town!
In 1962, Bud moved to Montreal where during the next few years he produced thirteen mammoth country music shows in the Montreal Forum featuring starts of the Grand Ole Opry. In the fall of 1967 he moved to Nashville , Tennessee as personal manager of Bill Anderson , recording artists and Opry Star. In later years, Bud followed a very successful career in the Tennessee insurance industry. He retired in 1984 and is now living with his wife, the former Marie Fletcher of Barker's Point, in Old Hickory, which is a suburb of Nashville .
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