Lonesome Steve Puto

Lonesome Steve Puto was a Saskatchewan country entertainer whose career stretched from family-band beginnings to television, rodeo shows, dance halls, albums, and late-life tribute events. Born Steve Puto on May 24, 1933, to Hafon and Malanka Puto, he became known across Saskatchewan as “Lonesome Steve”, a multi-instrumentalist, singer, horseman, and showman rooted in the Hafford and North Battleford region. He received his first guitar at the age of twelve, and by seventeen was already playing guitar, fiddle, accordion, steel guitar, banjo, drums, and saxophone.

His early band was a family affair, made up of Steve, three brothers, and one sister — a detail that remained important to him throughout his life. From there, he developed into one of Saskatchewan’s most versatile rural entertainers, performing across western Canada and building a reputation for friendliness, musicianship, and stage presence. The liner notes to I’m Singing the Words of Your Song describe him as a performer with “style, presence, magnetism,” equally at home on stage, on television, at a rodeo game with his trick horse, in night-club entertainment, or in Canada’s northern country.

That broad show-business personality was central to the Lonesome Steve image. He was remembered not only as a country singer but as a performer with his own Lonesome Steve TV Show, the first to play a double-neck Fury Guitar on that program, and a musician who could handle a twenty-string double-neck pedal steel, five-string banjo, violin, drums, saxophone, accordion, bass, and guitar. His albums mixed original songs with country standards and favourites made popular by others, reflecting the kind of repertoire expected from a working prairie entertainer who had to connect directly with live audiences.

By the time I’m Singing the Words of Your Song appeared, it was already identified as his third album, with a fourth said to be on the way. Recorded through the facilities of Studio B Productions in Saskatchewan, the record captured the polished but still homespun country style that made Lonesome Steve a regional favourite. Songs such as “Freight Train Blues,” “Mamma Tried,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Bobby McGee,” and the title track placed him firmly in the country tradition, while the back cover notes emphasized the professionalism he had earned through years of performing.

Outside the recording studio, Puto helped build Saskatchewan’s country music community. He was involved in organizing the Saskatoon Country and Western Music Association, the Bud Country Talent Search, and the Mikey Awards, which recognized Saskatchewan country singers. He also promoted younger country musicians and singers, making him part of the province’s musical infrastructure as much as one of its performers.

Horses were another important part of his public identity. Puto raised and trained black quarter horses, appeared in parades with his “dancing horse,” and carried the image of the prairie horseman into his entertainment career. That combination of country singer, instrumentalist, ranch personality, and television performer made him a distinctive figure in Saskatchewan popular culture.

In 2012, admirers gathered at the Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans Auditorium in Saskatoon for the release of a two-volume DVD set titled The Legacy of a Legend, celebrating his life and music. The event drew people from across central Saskatchewan and included guest performers and a jam session. A portion of DVD sales was donated to Parkinson’s Society Saskatchewan, reflecting Puto’s own long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Lonesome Steve Puto died on December 12, 2019. His obituary remembered him as “Lonesome Steve” Puto, a man whose journey had ended after a long life in music, family, and performance. For collectors, I’m Singing the Words of Your Song preserves a rare piece of that story: the sound of a Saskatchewan country entertainer whose career belonged to television stages, family bands, rodeo grounds, prairie dance halls, local studios, and the community networks that kept western Canadian country music alive.

-Robert Williston