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porting Ottawa Valley artists, but equally important would be their opportunities to perform “live”
...and during the heyday years of the “live entertainment” scene there were country music venues throughout urban Ottawa and surrounding communities. Arguably, the most promin- ent “country club” in Ottawa for many years was “The Golden Rail” located in the Lafontaine Hotel on Montreal Road in the Vanier sector of the city. A bona-fide “honky tonk”, the “Rail” was established by Irwin Prescott and later managed by Bruce Campbell. The room featured live entertainment nightly, presenting most of the top coun- try music touring acts from both the local and national scene; as well as featuring Nashville stars for special guest appearances. The Golden Rail was named Country Music Club of the Year in 1982 by the Canadian Country Music Association, the only Ottawa (and area) Club to earn such an honour. By the early 1990’s the Lafontaine Hotel property was sold to real estate developers and The Golden Rail club disappeared overnight - now the site of a 20-story high-rise. Unfortunately, no one had the foresight to preserve the actual “golden rail” that graced the club’s stage, a piece of Ottawa Valley country music history that deserved a better fate.
Across the street from the Golden Rail was The Stage
“THE GOLDEN RAIL” LOCATED IN THE LAFONTAINE HOTEL Get Organized!
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East (in the Diplomat Motel) another hotspot for live country music in Ottawa. In downtown Ottawa it was The Hitching Post with Bud Draper managing, and in the south end of the city it was The Silver Dollar, with Doug Petit at the helm (the club was originally called Country Way, a venue that hosted visits by top blue- grass acts including Ricky Skaggs, J.D. Crowe, Josh Graves, etc.); while in the city’s west end the major stops were at Branscombes Inn and Cedars, a popu- lar venue operated by Omar Saleh. Numerous other country clubs and coffee houses were dotted across the city during the heyday years of live entertainment...but all of the “live” action came to an almost abrupt end- ing with the advent of stricter DUI enforcement and the onslaught of modern entertainment technologies which helped make “live” venues a risky venture for owners. Now local country music entertainers are rel- egated to playing local Legion Halls and corner cafes.
Most every community in the
Ottawa Valley had its own version of a “Golden Rail”. In Carleton Place “Mississippi Country” in the famed Mississippi Hotel was a genuine “honky tonk”, a venue that was home-base for Ron McMunn and the site for his “Live” album which featured the legendary dobro-player Josh Graves. In Smiths Falls it was “Sam’s Place”, in Renfrew it was “The White House”, and Kemptville was home of the famed Kemptville Hotel, which featured appearances by Stompin’ Tom Connors. The Quebec shores also had several main
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