Sault Ste. Marie has a long musical history.
A part of that is captured in a permanent exhibit entitled Naturally Gifted - A Tribute to Local Musicians, located on the Sault Ste. Marie Museum’s third floor.
Its walls are lined with framed photographs of local musicians and bands throughout the years.
The exhibit was produced by Ric Datson, assistant curator at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum.
“It's a tribute to local musicians of any genre starting from the early 1900s up to now. This is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what the museum has in its collection. We have about 12 binders of pictures,” Datson told SooToday.
The photos of local musicians and bands are arranged on the exhibit’s walls in chronological order by decade.
One photo - of Gordon Lewis of The Originals - is dated 1925.
Among the many artists with photos is Debbie Lori Kaye.
Kaye was born in New York but grew up in the Sault. After singing locally, her career progressed to the point of having hit singles Picking Up My Hat and Soldier Boy with Columbia Records.
Other artists on the walls include Jeff Neill of Streetheart, Donna Ramsay and LeRoy Anderson, Mick Dalla-Vee - who has worked with several groups and artists including Randy Bachman - and pop-rock group Jackson Hawke.
“Music is a huge part of the Sault’s history,” Datson said.
“That's why we call this exhibit naturally gifted because there were so many good musicians in this town. There were musicians everywhere.
"Back in the day most bars were open with live entertainment six nights a week and there were a lot more bars than there are now. There were lots of bars and lots of bands.”
Datson started collecting photos of musicians and bands when he started working at the museum in 2005.
Then he found out that there was nothing dedicated to local music history.
"I asked the curator if I could start a music category collecting pictures from all the musicians that I knew and he was in favour of it. From there we had enough to do a gallery. I thought that local musicians needed some kind of recognition.”
After a decade of work, the Naturally Gifted - A Tribute to Local Musicians exhibit opened in 2017.
The exhibit also includes musical instruments and reproductions of drum head covers of local bands that Datson made.
A monitor continuously plays YouTube videos of 18 Sault artists and groups including Jay Case, Michael Yurich, Mike Case, Catherine Taddo, Frank Deresti and Handsome Sandwich.
Visitors love to check out the exhibit, Datson said.
“It brings back a lot of memories for people to look at pictures of the bands that we have. The 60s era looked pretty cool. Everybody had suits on, dressed up and professional looking.”
Datson, a Sault native, is a recognizable local musician in his own right.
“I've been playing drums in bars for 45 years. I started when I was 17 . . . in Grade 10. I finished high school and played six nights a week in the bars and Saturday afternoon matinees.”
He currently plays drums for three bands – rock band Double Down, Out & Out Country plays Sunday afternoons at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, and a third band that hasn't started playing yet.
The exhibit is also home to The Soo Music Project, a catalogue that lists local musicians and bands from the early 20th century to the present day in several genres including rock, blues, jazz, country, classical, barbershop, electronic, musical theatre, comedic, punk, alternative as well as big band orchestras and military marching bands.
The historical work - researched and compiled by the Sault’s Shaun Antler, a local historian, archivist and journalist - was put on display in 2021.
There are 1,905 entries in the book.
The earliest entry in The Soo Music Project is from 1901, listing the Sault’s Tagona Allied Band and its bandmaster William Robertson.
“I'm very impressed with it. I'm glad Shaun did it. It was a huge project,” Datson said.
Anyone wishing to donate a photo to the Naturally Gifted - A Tribute to Local Musicians exhibit can contact Datson by phone at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum at 705 759-7278 extension 223 or by email.
“We're still looking if people have pictures or information or anything to do with local bands. We’ll gladly take a copy of it. A lot of people don't want to give up their photos but we can scan them and give the originals back,” Datson said.
Anyone wishing to submit additional listings or amendments to existing entries in The Soo Music Project book may contact Shaun Antler by email.