Jimmy Lawlor was born on September 26, 1940 into a musical family at Red Bank, New Brunswick. Jim started singing in the 1950’s while attending school and then started his own band in 1957 playing with is brothers and other local musicians.
In 1962 Jim joined the Bee Jays, a band out of Chatham under the leadership of Joe MacDonald, and has continued with this group until the present time.
During the years he has been involved with church music, singing at weddings and funerals, and has been a regular member of his church choir. He also entertains at hospitals and benefits through the province with the famed Miramichi Sanitoria Club, a volunteer organization.
Throughout the years Jim has released his own cassettes, performed and backed up Nashville musicians, and various other performers.
Jim and his band hand regular dances at The Seamans’ Hospital in Douglastown in support of Miramichi Heritage Inc., a volunteer group dedicated to maintaining the building as a cultural centre. Jim doesn’t know the meaning of the word “no” when it comes to volunteering his talent to help community efforts and to promote country music.
He also performs annually at the Miramichi Irish Festival, Miramichi Folksong Festival and both the National and Provincial political leadership conventions.
Gerry Myers got the urge to sing early in life but because he was one of 16 brothers and sisters, when the desire to sing met the need of a guitar there simply was not enough to go around. Since he had to have a guitar, but could not afford one, he made one!
That is the creative style of Gerry Myers, a Maritime legend, who for the past 40 years has been touching the hearts of its people through his songs. When a song such as “Ou est Mama,” the “French Song” or “Ta Decision” is performed in the Maritimes, everyone knows the words – his songs are part of the Maritime tradition.
In the early 1950’s Gerry and his brothers formed the group “Bunkhouse Boys”. After many years of weekly radio broadcasts at CKCW in Moncton, they hosted the first TV musical variety show in New Brunswick. The notoriety they received from continuous exposure through radio and television, always ensured a packed house whenever or wherever they performed.
Gerry was inducted into the New Brunswick Hall of Fame as part of the Bunkhouse Boys in 1984. When the group disbanded, he continued to write songs and record first as a solo act and then with his daughters, Debbie and Shirley. He has certainly paved the way for his daughters as they both have received international attention for their singing talents.
He continues today to perform and write music that reflects the feelings and experiences of his life and those around him.
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