Al Cherney

Alexander Peter Chernywech (November 1, 1932 – August 25, 1989) recording as Al Cherny, was a Canadian fiddler. He studied with Frank Nowak and played country music on CHAT-FM.

Cherney won the Canadian Old Time Fiddlers' Contest in Ontario, under the novelty class from 1959 to 1961 and the open class in both 1960 and 1961.

In the early 1970s, he was a leading studio musician, recording with musician like Gary Buck, Dick Damron, Tommy Hunter, Jesse Winchester and Sylvia Tyson. He released more than ten studio albums and received an RPM Big Country Award for Top Country Instrumentalist in 1978.

From 1964, until his passing in 1989, Cherny was a regular, featured musician on the CBC's The Tommy Hunter Show. Cherny met Tommy Hunter when he worked at CKNX in Wingham, Ontario.

Legacy He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. He also performed regularly on The Tommy Hunter Show, until his death in 1989, of lung cancer.

Discography

Albums Year Album 1965 North American Fiddle Champion (Plays Contest Winning Tunes) 1965 Plays Old Tyme Fiddle 1967 On Stage With Al Cherny AKA Al Cherny 1968 Golden Slippers 1969 Blue Ribbon Fiddle 1972 Fiddle Magic 1974 Rural Roots 1975 "The Big Fiddle Sound" Of Al Cherny 1975 Fiddle Country 1978 Country Club Hits of Al Cherny (Compilation) 1988 Al Cherny's Fiddle Party (Compilation) 1988 A Tribute to Al Cherny (Compilation) 2002 The Lost Recordings - Live

Singles Year Single Peak positions CAN Country 1972 "Shannon Waltz" 46 "Mr. Bojangles" 45