Ron Paxton and the Foothill Stompers

Ron Paxton and the Foothill Stompers were an old-time country dance band from Calgary, Alberta, built around the instrumental sound of mandolin, fiddle, piano, autoharp, washboard, banjo and rhythm guitar. The group grew out of an informal musical gathering between Donna Otte, Alex McDonald and Walter Wandzura. When the band later needed a bass player, Ron Paxton joined the group, helping bring the Foothill Stompers into Calgary-area local functions and community performances.

The early band played together for about two years before being interrupted by the death of Walter A. Wandzura in 1978. Their first album, Ron Paxton and the Foothill Stompers, was dedicated to Wandzura with the message “Till we meet again.” After his death, Paxton, McDonald and Otte carried on, with Paxton taking a more prominent role on mandolin.

The group’s repertoire drew heavily from old-time fiddle, country waltzes, schottisches, jigs and traditional dance tunes, including pieces such as “Westphalia Waltz,” “Black Velvet Waltz,” “Karlstad Schottische,” “Crooked Stove Pipe,” “Whispering” and “Year of Jubilo.” Their first LP was recorded in Calgary at Donohoo Recording Studio and released through Aura Records / World Records, with distribution by Ross Sound Corporation of Regina. Around the same period, the group also issued the single “Crooked Stove Pipe” / “Black Velvet Waltz” on Aura Records.

A second album, Volume 2, followed in 1981 on Strawberry Records, again distributed through Ross Sound. Recorded at Jonathon Recording Studio in Calgary, the album continued the group’s old-time dance-band approach with material such as “San Antonio Rose,” “Flop Eared Mule,” “Smash the Window,” “The Girl I Left Behind Me” and “Up Country Jig.”

Although little appears to have been documented about the Foothill Stompers beyond their records, the albums preserve a small but vivid piece of Calgary’s old-time country and community dance music scene, led by Paxton’s belief that old-time music still had a role in the present and future.

-Robert Williston