Don Messer

The Man Behind the Music

Don Messer was more than a household name in Canada — he was part of family life, the background music in Canadian kitchens — first on radio, and then on television. Private and unassuming, Don was everyman, and yet someone singular and special: a devoted family man, a rigid Calvinist, band diplomat, lover of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a musical prodigy who from the age of seven knew and played directly to an audience . . . an audience that eventually protested in unprecedented numbers on Parliament Hill upon CBC’s sudden cancellation of his show, Don Messer’s Jubilee. Through collected personal anecdotes and careful research, Johanna Bertin shares the inner complexities of the man family and friends knew: the man behind the music that warmed the hearts of three million fans.