Over the last few years, folks in the Battlefords music community told me a guy by the name of Dave Hiebert could really play the guitar. Then on one occasion, when I was DJing a 50th wedding anniversary dance in Hafford, I got to hear Dave. He and two other players were at the front entrance of the hall playing some rousing tunes as people were coming in. It was a Ukrainian custom. Yep, they were right. Dave could really play. He was phenomenal – a guitar wizard.
Dave and I met at McDonald’s Restaurant during the evening of Nov. 30. Over multiple cups of coffee, I heard the story of his life and his remarkable musical odyssey. Dave is a most engaging person. His love of music in a career that spanned 60 years or so is extraordinary.
David Hiebert was born on May 6, 1937 to Peter and Gertrude Hiebert (nee Dyck) at Borden. The Hiebert family was large – five brothers and six sisters. Dave was of solid German, Mennonite stock. His early years were spent on the farm in the Great Deer District. He took Grades 2 to 8 at Thistledale School about eight miles east of Borden.
Dave started playing guitar at age six. His brother gave him his first guitar, a Palm Beach (with palm trees embossed on the front) and taught him his first chords – G, C, and D. In January of 1947, when it was - 52 F outside, Dave sang and played two songs at a community variety evening – Just a Closer Walk With Thee and “How Great Thou Art. Dave says he was “pretty good” for a boy of 10, and he was quite a hit.
Dave left the farm in 1953 at age 16 and hitchhiked to Saskatoon where he got a job resetting bowling pins. That job didn’t last long, so in the early fall he thumbed his way to Kindersley where he got hired as a labourer on the Walter Muroh farm. Dave, drawing on his German heritage and experience on his dad’s farm, was not afraid of hard work and long hours, earned the princely sum of $300.
In November, Dave hitchhiked to Castor, Alta. and then to Stettler, to hook up with his uncle, Dave Dyck. Shortly thereafter, Dave made his way to Calgary where he ended up on the wrong side of the tracks. Dave was robbed of his money and watch by a street gang. They were about to throw him into the Bow River when Dave, mustering all his courage, decided to fight back. He took on the gang leader. It was a desperate affair, but with two well-placed punches to the hoodlum’s midsection and one that knocked one of the gang leader’s front teeth out, Dave won decisively. Then, instead of throwing him in the river, the gang decided to take him in. It’s the stuff of movies.
The gang gave him back his money and watch, and Dave ran with them for a couple of weeks. The gang was short on sleeping quarters so Dave sacked out in the local Salvation Army facility.He was still just 16. The gang’s criminal activity didn’t sit well with Dave, because he was sure that it was only a matter of time before he would be scooped up by the police along with the rest of the gang. So, Dave parted ways with his nefarious friends and headed for Olds, Alta.
With his money spent, and no job, a friendly police officer let him sleep in an unused jail cell for a few nights. Then, the officer drove him to the highway, gave him $5, wished him well and sent him on his way. Dave hitchhiked to Castor and connected again with his uncle Dave. During his stay here, Dave broke his leg – a very serious injury. Infection set in and Dave was brought close to death. He convalesced for a full year, and at one point his doctors advised amputation.
Dave first got involved in music in 1956 when he was 19 years old when the ACT travelling Co-op Amateur Hour came to Borden. The show was held in the town hall. Dave (guitar), and his brother Peter (guitar), Sheila Hamm (accordion) and Sheila’s brother Rupert (banjo), had to compete against the well-known and established Hamp’s orchestra (who still play). The fledging group played a crowd favourite, the Blue Skirt waltz, and claimed first place. It was quite an upset since everyone had expected the Hamps to win. At a variety night at the Borden Hotel a few months later, Dave backed fiddle player Tony Meckling. People started to recognize Dave’s talent as a guitar picker, and he was called upon to step in with local bands.
At 19, wanderlust set in and Dave headed west to Kamloops, B.C. where he found work in a sawmill. He subsequently made his way to Vancouver where he worked for his cousin Wilfred in an auto wrecking business. He played guitar and mandolin for house parties almost every weekend. Dave was a big draw because he could also sing. Those were the days of Buddy Holly, so he belted out songs like Peggy Sue and Oh Boy.
“[And] As everyone knows,” mused Dave, “ a good-looking guy playing rock and roll is a magnet girls can’t resist. I had a lot of girlfriends in those days. I was a popular guy. I learned to live with it.”
Dave’s next move was to Hope, B.C. where he got a job backfilling with Mannix Pipeline Ltd. The money was good and he lived in his uncle’s cabin. There were no house parties this time around and not much of an opportunity to connect with the girls. The big event in Dave’s life was the acquisition of his first car – a 1938 Ford coupe.
Vancouver and its vibrant social life beckoned, but this time Dave drove to the big city. The girls were even more impressed – a good-looking rocker who had a car. Soon after Dave turned 20, he drove back to Saskatoon. He was in demand to play, but he declined to dress the part like the Zoot Zooters with hair long and baggy pants. Dave remembers playing three consecutive days for a big Ukrainian wedding. The next big event in his life occurred in 1957 when he married his sweetheart, Marge Rhodes. They had a large family – four boys and four girls. Dave would be the first to admit he was “rough around the edges,” and that marriage and family settled him down.
Music became an increasingly dominant force in Dave’s life. There was a string of house parties (even after marriage), which gave Dave an opportunity to increase and hone his skills as a guitarist. Correspondingly, his reputation as a first-class musician as an accomplished lead guitarist also grew. Dave was in high demand and was asked to step in with various bands in and around Saskatoon. Charlie and the Sundowners played in a club by the airport. Cheyenne, as Dave recalled, “[was] a super good country band” that played the Manhattan Ball Room East of Saskatoon.
Dave never really settled down with one band. Instead, he freelanced with a number. He sometimes played every day of the week. As Dave said over coffee, “I played all the way through my 20s, 30s, 40s and I’m still playing.”
In 1971, Dave and Marge and the children moved to Bridal Falls, B.C. They stayed for only a year, but Dave managed to step in with a couple of bands. In 1972, the family moved back to Saskatoon. Dave bought a truck and ran his own business, Dave’s Trucking Ltd. During this time, He was not involved in music for about five years. He felt unfulfilled, something was missing.
In 1976, Dave teamed up with Bernie Martins (a lead guitarist and singer) and his band. They were solidly booked, playing gig after gig. Dave remembered that one of the most memorable dances was a big Christmas party at the Bellman Restaurant on Quebec and 33rd Street in Saskatoon. They were paid handsomely.
Dave also played with the Mike Bender Band. Mike was a nice guy hippie with long hair and a ‘60s counterculture ideology. The band played for huge crowds at community dances in a barn near Warman. True to his freelance roots, Dave also played base with Spectrum, an uptown country band. But in this case, it wasn’t a positive experience because of Spectrum’s “hard nut” leader. So he quit.
Dave freelanced with many bands from 1976 to the mid ‘80s. In 1986, Dave stepped in with the Mike Dashney Country Band. They often played at the Army and Navy Hall on Second Avenue in Saskatoon, and in the surrounding towns. Dave played with Mike’s band for four years – 1986 to ‘90.
In 1990, Dave married Bertha Loewen. They moved to Summerland, B.C. As one would expect, Dave promptly became a fixture in the music scene. He joined a brass band. He recalled playing for a huge church dance of 1,500 people at the Convention Centre in Penticton. Dave then joined The Country Lads, who had moved from Summerland to Kelowna, and stuck with them for four years. As Dave recalls, “These were really good years.” It was here that Dave acquired the nickname “flying fingers.” Dave then came on board with Big John Elliot’s Band and played with them for four years (1994 to ‘98).
In 1998, Dave and Bertha moved to Swift Current. Dave joined the John Ogilvie Country Band and had the opportunity to “play with professional musicians” including John Ogilvie (guitar, front man) Bill McKay (banjo) and Bobby Windemere (steel guitar). Dave played lead guitar. The boys played Swift Current, Cadillac, Gull Lake, Assiniboia and many other communities. Dave was with this band for six years (1998 to 2004).
In 2004, Dave and Bertha moved to Hafford, where the Redberry Ramblers — Harry Muzyka on accordion, Ron Tachak on accordion and base guitar, Boris Shevchuck on banjo and Dave on lead guitar— were founded. The four-piece band played Hafford, Blaine Lake, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and North Battleford.
Dave came to the realization that he wasn’t getting any younger so he declined to travel with the Ramblers. This led to him coming on board with the Ross McNaught Band Ross McNaught (rhythm and lead guitar), Shelby McNaught (steel guitar), Josh Dinero (drums), and Dave (lead guitar). Dave recalled that it was a great little band and that two lead guitarists made for some dazzling tunes.
Dave and Bertha moved to Battleford in 2013. At age 80, Dave is still a major player on the music scene. His phone rings a lot with band leaders looking for “the best” guitar player. Dave obliges. He steps in with Frank Materi and the Four Gents, Kellion and Lillian Kopp, Pius Fritz, Carl and Maureen Ross and the Good Old Boys and Mel and Carol Deagon and Carmel Country.
It has been my distinct pleasure, and an honour to get to know Dave Hiebert. I count him as a friend. He has lived an amazing life and enjoyed an extraordinary musical career with few equals as a guitarist. And he’s not finished yet – not by a long shot.
