Remembering a music legend: A tribute to Frank ‘Bojo’ Boyer

By Leslie Knibbs

BATHCHEWANA FIRST NATION— There are no words for goodbye in Anishinaabemowin.  Only prayers, and the purest of yearnings from friends and loved ones to meet again following their Spirit Journey. Delicate hankerings of the heart to ‘see you later’ after passing are tricky feelings, an intangible mix of complicated emotions at a passing that endows it with an almost ethereal quality, sentiments as abstract as time yet as real as a firing squad with feelings of unfathomable grief yet joyful memories as well, and a knowing.

Baamaapii minwa Gaawaabmin Frank ‘Bojo’ Boyer. Boyer passed away in January this year. In his obituary, he was described as “a hard-working man.”  Boyer was a Pressman at the Sault Star newspaper for 42 years, beginning his apprenticeship at age 18. He was also one of the best and most beloved country singers and musicians in Northeastern Ontario.  Boyer was a member of the Northern Ontario Country Music Association and inducted to the Great Northern Opry in April 1998.

He was raised in Garden River First Nation and a resident of Rankin Reserve most of his adult life.  Throughout his lifetime, Bojo took to many unvarnished platform stages in countless towns and village halls like the Echo Bay Hall where he performed at their annual Hay Days event. He also played bars and numerous other venues creating magical moments for those in attendance.

At center stage he didn’t do what others did, he remained true to the roots of country music. He didn’t smooth out the edges; he was pure country, a distinctive echo of old-style country music playing his songs in the shadow of guys like Hank Williams Sr.  His music travelled along on an even keel tempo, delivering both lighthearted tunes bringing a smile to fans, as well crooning mournfully sad ballads.  There was no cosplay in Bojo’s demeanour or his performances.

Bojo is remembered in an easy sort of way, a welcome and easy recollection for many who attended the halls and bars where he played. Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle wrote in his piece, “if a man was great while living, he becomes tenfold greater when dead.”  It’s said that when you speak the name of the dead, their life lives on. And in some mystical way, the mention of a person, a person like Bojo Boyer, channels a welcome remembering, a heartfelt feeling, a vision of the person, all creating a tangled mix of joy and sorrow unlike any other, especially for family and friends and fans.

His friend Joe ‘ZoZep’ Corbiere from Batchewana First Nation recently reflected on his friend, “I guess I knew him most of my life, Bojo was older, I remember him and his father Frank senior coming over with their wives. They would play and sing till the wee hours.”

Joe’s father, Frank Sr., was Chief of Batchewana First Nation for several terms and Bojo served on the Council at that time.

“I think his music was like comfort music to a lot of us, Bojo and his family would be playing at a lot of the good times, dances, weddings community celebrations, and then at home parties also,” Corbiere said.

Boyer’s childhood was different to most children; unlike others forced to attend Indian Residential Schools, his parents took measures to prevent that.

“Bojo’s mother had went to Residential School in Fort Frances. In the 50s when it was Bojo’s turn to go to Residential School, his family decided to hide him. His father Frank Sr. took Bojo into the hills near Garden River. He was five at the time and didn’t come out of the bush until he was seven. The Indian Agent and two RCMP came to look for him.  The family stayed at a sugar bush cabin and could see the Indian Agent looking for young Frank.  The trail to the sugar bush had a deadfall on it to discourage people from looking. Anishnaabe would have recognized the deadfall and stayed away,” said Corbiere.

Boyer is well remembered for his performances in numerous bands including the Kountry Kings, and The Boyer Brothers.  He was a multi-talented musician playing guitar, fiddle, banjo, steel guitar, mouth organ, and drums.  In his later years, Frank performed alone as a one-man band producing many memorable recordings at his home studio.

Ken Findlay, an employee at the Sault Star and an original member of the Kountry Kings remembers his first meeting Frank in Echo Bay.

“The first time I met Frank in 1964, he was playing guitar in a band from Sault Ste. Marie called Dimensions at the Echo Bay Hall. My wife and I were running the canteen that night,” he said.  “We soon became close friends and would often play guitars together during our lunch breaks as Frank lived close to the Star.”

In 1968, Findlay and a friend got an invitation to play at a house party. According to Findlay, on the day of the party, they were not doing all that well so they called Frank and asked him if he would be interested in playing that day.

“Within the hour, Frank showed up and had the whole place rockin’,” said Findlay.

The gig in the Echo Bay was the impetus to the birth of the legendary Kountry Kings. Following the gig, the band got together and started jamming eventually bringing in another Echo Bay boy Garry Mason as the drummer.  From then on, the Kountry Kings under Frank’s guidance became a great band in the Northeast.

“Frank was patient with our group of amateurs and took the time to show us how to become a great band. He would set the tempo and we followed.  I owe my musical career to Frank as I’m sure many others do as well.  He was widely respected and his talents admired by the musical community,” said Findlay.

Dissimilar to some of today’s music, with its overstuffed stadiums and obligatory stage show, Frank’s music could stand alone with his good voice and a sparse rhythm section of a bass guitar and drum kit.  When Bojo got old, after collecting the visceral traces of time, he carried on as a singular performer recording many songs and playing all instruments.