Adams, Chef (Adam Edward Semeniuk)

Websites:  No
Origin: Sturgis, Saskatchewan
Biography:

Chef Adams, known as (Adam Edward Semeniuk), was born on a farm in Saskatchewan. At an early age he was exposed to the music and festivities of his Ukrainian community. He started playing guitar when he was about 14 years old and caught the entertainer's itch.

Chef moved to Toronto to start his career in Country Music. He started hanging around Fred Rodens Music Store and soon met other musicians. For quite some time he had no job, no money and occasionally slept on the streets of Toronto. He hung around parks, sang to anyone who would listen and over the course of time met several other musicians. One day a restaurant owner learned of his plight and offered him a job as a short order cook. Many of the local musicians and singers came into the restaurant and began to call him "Chef "Adams.

While working as a chef , he was invited to perform at local jamborees and since music had always been his love, he jumped at the chance. Eventually Chef started playing more dances and jamborees in and around Toronto. By the mid-1950s he was able to quit the restaurant job, formed his own band and made a living as an entertainer. In 1956 he recorded his first single, a song about marathon swimmer Marilyn Bell after she conquered Lake Ontario. The song became very popular on Ontario radio stations and this gave his career a great boost. During his recording career, Chef released a total of 12 albums and 18 singles, 2 eight tracks, 4 cassettes and 2 CD's.

Over the years Chef went on to do jamborees and appeared on numerous radio shows in Canada and also the famous WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. He also had guest appearances on popular TV shows such as The Mainstreet Jamboree in Hamilton and the CBC's Country Hoedown. He frequently toured throughout Northern Ontario and Quebec as well as across Canada and the U.S.. He worked with many of the great country artists like Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Hank Snow, Stonewall Jackson, Marty Robins, Jim Reeves, Webb Pierce, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Glen Campbell, Patsy Cline and Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper. He also toured with Canadian fiddle legends King Ganam and Ned Landry.