Tanglefoot

In the early 1980s, Tanglefoot assembled as a far different ensemble from the one familiar to listeners today. Educators Joe Grant, Bob Wagar, and Tim Rowat donned historical clothing while delivering vintage folk standards, most often to their own pupils. Through this staged format they sought to connect the children with Canada’s past, offsetting the youngsters’ stronger grasp of American milestones such as Betsy Ross fashioning the first U.S. flag and George Washington crossing the Delaware River, even as the same students faltered when asked about domestic figures such as Louis Riel or John A. MacDonald. Along with the songs, the teachers staged short historical scenes.

Those period costumes have long since disappeared. So have most of the older numbers, although one occasionally returns to the set list. The repertoire now centers on “new traditional” pieces, original songs that Grant initially wrote and that every member of Tanglefoot later helped expand. The band’s name comes directly from a nineteenth-century ballad about Toronto’s Don Jail that mentioned Tanglefoot whiskey; the teachers removed the liquor reference because their earliest audiences were schoolchildren.

Membership changed repeatedly in the years that followed. Tim Rowat left in 1988, the same year Steve Ritchie joined. In 1994 the trio became a quartet with the addition of Al Parrish. Bob Wagar departed the next year and Francis Skrzeszewski took his place. By 1996 the group had grown to a quintet with Rob Ritchie aboard. Before the decade closed, Terry Young replaced Francis Skrzeszewski. Young had already appeared with the band at Iggstock in 1994. Rob Ritchie stepped away briefly in 1999 after the birth of his child; during that interval Erin Donovan performed with the group before Rob returned.