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Seventy-six years ago today, in January 1950, Nova Scotia-born Canadian country singer Hank Snow made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, courtesy of Ernest Tubb, who’d recommended him.
Snow was born in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, on May 9, 1914, and had a difficult childhood (his largely-absent father worked in the sawmill industry) which culminated in his being removed—along with his siblings—from his mother’s care. Some were placed with relatives, and some went to foster families. Snow himself ended up with relatives who abused him, and whom he left before finally being allowed to rejoin his mother.
During his rather unhappy adolescence, he bought himself a guitar, learned to play, spent some time at sea (in the literal sense, as did many of those from his native province), and in the late 1930s gained some notoriety on Canadian radio as a singer.
In 1949, he moved to Nashville, and that’s how he ended up, the following year, on the Grand Ole Opry. I’m Movin’ On held the top US spot on the Billboard Country Music Chart for 21 weeks in that year. But it’s not my favorite of his oeuvre.
That would be this one:
Hank Snow was still going strong in 1974, but by that time he’d been eclipsed by another Nova Scotian singer from the coal mining town of Spring Hill, whose debut single, Snowbird, broke the charts in 1970:
The composer of that little number, Gene MacLellan, was an incredibly gifted and much underrated Canadian composer. Like Hank Snow, he had a hard life, but unlike Hank Snow, his difficulties multiplied the longer he lived. Until he had had enough and decided to end them.
Utterly tragic.
His daughter, Catherine, has inherited his genius and is also worth a listen.
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Discussion (14)
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With a post by She, you never know which side of her polymath's polygon you're going to get, and personally, I delight in the unpredictable variety! Country singers from Nova Scotia wasn't on my Bingo card for 2026, but I'll listen with gratitude because you made it interesting.
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Agreed. But with the title, I thought, “Oh, no! She is leaving Ricochet!”
I was actually relieved to find out it was just about a Nova Scotian country singer.
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I'm partial to I've Been Everywhere:
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I too am a huge Hank Snow fan and have been since I "discovered" country music more than 50 years ago. In fact I have posted a couple of his tunes in the Country Music Jukebox group within the last few months. I'm sure one of them was Hello Love since it is one of my very favorites of his. Let's not forget another #1 hit - I've Been Everywhere. I like Anne Murray also.
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