My friends in the Battlefords senior music fraternity persuaded me to attend a Sunday afternoon jam session and dance at the Pioneer Hall on Railway Avenue South. I’m glad I went, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the musicianship and vigor and energy of the crowd.
Approximately 12 to 15 players took turns playing and singing. All of them were seniors (many in their 80s) and had many years performing and playing for dances. There were five duos, four of whom were husband and wife. One duo, Mel and Carol Deagnon, caught my eye (and my ear). I hit them up for an interview at the Discovery Co-op Café Dec. 6. I found Mel and Carol to be a most engaging and interesting couple with a remarkable musical history.
Mel was born Feb. 21, 1944 in Regina. He took Grades 1 to 10 at a rural school, Ravenswood 14 miles north of Regina, and Grades 11 and 12 at the high school in Southey. After graduation, Mel moved to Regina and took his first job with Saskatchewan Government Insurance Ltd. for three years. He then spent the next 12 years with the Saskatchewan Transportation Company in the ticket office. Mel then joined Canada Post and moved to Calgary where he worked as a letter carrier.
In 1982, Mel was transferred to Saskatoon where he continued as a letter carrier until his retirement in 2008. After thirty years in the business, Mel had certainly paid his dues. Now he could turn his attention to a great love in his life: music.
Carol was born at Regina April 27, 1947. She took Grades 1 through 8 at St. Joseph School, and Grade 9 at Balfour Tech, in Regina. She started work in downtown Regina at Eaton’s Canada as a personal shopper and Teletype operator.
Carol met Mel in Saskatoon at the STC Bus Depot in 1974. After a whirlwind courtship, Carol and Mel were married in Saskatoon at the court house.
As mentioned, one of Mel’s great interests was music. In 1953, he took accordion lessons. He played by ear, as do all good dance musicians. After the sixth lesson, his teacher couldn’t continue because Mel would not play by note.
In 1956, Mel heard Johnny Cash on the radio. He was smitten. Johnny Cash was Mel’s inspiration. He wanted to sing and play like the great rockabilly star. Mel retrieved the family’s old worse-for-wear guitar with two strings from the attic. Mel’s mother spent hard-earned cash to buy Mel a set of guitar strings. His mother and father showed him how to tune the guitar and a set of open chords (D, G and A). Shortly thereafter, Mel teamed up with a neighbour to play a couple of tunes for the annual school Christmas concert. Later, at his high school in Southey, Mel sang and played in the hallways, entertaining his friends and teachers. And, of course, a handsome teenager singing and playing guitar impressed the girls. In the Southey High School yearbook, Mel was characterized as “Mel Deagnon - Southey’s own Johnny Cash.”
At age 17, Mel competed in the travelling ACT Co-op talent show in Punnichy and later in Regina. He was up against a talented musician by the name of Ivan McNabb who won both contests, a result good enough to qualify him for a bit part in the hit television show Bonanza.
After graduating from high school, work, marriage and raising a family and helping his father on the family farm, Mel left the music scene for an extended period of time. He bought a record player and a new acoustic guitar (with a cowboy roping a calf embossed on the front). Unfortunately, the guitar was stolen in 1964. Mel’s music career was again put on hold,but not forever. In 1980, in Calgary, Mel bought another acoustic guitar, a good quality Yamaha. Mel started playing and singing again at home.
In 2008, the same year that Mel and Carol moved to Maymont. Mel started playing again, and this time in public. He started stepping in with local musicians at the Speers community jam sessions. At a community Christmas concert, Mel was persuaded to go on stage and sing his first song, Hank Williams’ Your Cheatin’ Heart and a second, He’ll Have to Go by Jim Reeves. I’m not sure what happened to the guitar Mel bought decades before, but he found it necessary to borrow Walt Dumont’s electric guitar.
As a reflection of Mel’s intense love of music, he jammed and performed with pretty well anybody, anytime, in Speers, Mayfair, Hafford and North Battleford to name a few. It’s not a stretch to say Mel has played with pretty well every singer and player in the music community.
Mel is an accomplished, versatile instrumentalist. In addition to guitar, Mel plays accordion, drums, banjo, mouth organ and mandolin. After the move to Maymont, Mel bought a beautiful guitar from Kellion Kopp of Classic Trading in North Battleford.
You will note from Mel’s picture that he grew his hair long, like a good ole country boy, on one occasion in 2006. Mel hasn’t always had long hair but, he has had a moustache since age 25. He cuts a fine manly figure, to be sure, which is further enhanced by his talent as a singer and guitarist.
At this point in the essay, I now turn my attention to Carol and her musical career. Carol was a non-player in the Mel and Carol story for most of their life together. Then, in October of 2013 at a Maymont evening of song and dancing, Mel asked Carol to come up on stage and sing with him. They were backed by the Jon Sloan and Friends house band. Then, that winter while on holidays in Texas, Mel again asked Carol to sing with him at an evening get together with friends. She did. Together they sang a great rendition of Tanya Tucker’s song, Texas When I Die. That did it. Mel and Carol sang together from that point forward. Long-time community singer and player, Jack Alm, stepped in to coach them and help them on their musical journey.
Carol, with assistance from Mel, headed a committee to organize The Legends of Country Music at Maymont Memorial Hall. These were great shows featuring local musicians, catered suppers and standing room only venues, and were consistently sold out. The first set featured the Grand Old Opry. They were a huge success. Carol and Mel put their heart and soul into these shows for five years.
In 2009, Mel played with Prairie Spirit. He played with this band until the passing of Murial Kotelko. Mel then formed his own five-piece band, Carmel Country. Members of the band included Tom Calwell who plays harmonica. Tom is now 91. He was 83 in 2008. Other members were Bert who plays the bones, Earnie Degenhardt on the banjo and Vern Hackness who plays bass.
Carmel’s first gig was at the annual summer fair in Radisson in 2013. Next, in 2014, Mel and the band played in 2014 for Telemiracle in Saskatoon. And, like all of the bands in the Senior Dance Band’s Fraternity, they play at the seniors’ residences in North Battleford, Speers, Spiritwood and other venues.
The dinner theatre at Mayfair in 2012 was another great venue for Mel and Carol and the band. The Prairie Spirits played its most prestigious venue at the annual Carlton Trail Jamboree near Rabbit Lake. Carmel’s musician relationships remain intact, but the band mellowed down beginning in 2013. They still get together to jam occasionally and band members step in with other bands.
In 2014, Mel and Carol joined a four-piece band, The Good Old Boys. Members include Mel on guitar and vocals, Walt Dumont (who passed away in August of 2015) on guitar and vocals, Carl Ross on guitar and vocals and Dave Hiebert on lead guitar. Maureen Ross and Carol have since joined the band. The group is popular and have many bookings scheduled. Mel and Carol continue to play and sing with the band at jam sessions, for community dances and at seniors’ homes in the area.
Mel and Carol are now celebrating 40 years of life together. A celebration will take place at the Pioneer Hall on Railway Avenue South. When Mel and Carol got married 40 years ago in Saskatoon, Ron Ferniuk (who passed away 15 years ago), a fellow employee with Mel at STC, was his best man. Carol’s maid of honour was Marlene Bradford (a niece to Gordie Howe). The young married couple didn’t have much of a party then, but it should be different 40 years later.
Finally, to conclude this remarkable journey of two extraordinary individuals, I mention that in 2001, Carol was recognized for her work with the Saskatoon United Way in fundraising for Adopt a Family. And, in 2014, Carol was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Centennial Medal for her tireless efforts with Child Find Saskatchewan.
It has been my good fortune to get to know Mel and Carol Deagnon, first at the Pioneers’ Association jam sessions and dances, and then over coffee at the Discovery Co-op Café to hear their life story. Mel and Carol share a passionate love of music. And in this, we are all enriched.
