Welcome to another Made in Manitoba, a bittersweet edition of the program, as we say farewell to Manitoba musical icon Stew Clayton. The long-time musician is known for his songwriting, guitar playing and most notably his ability to yodel exceptionally well.

Affectionately known as the Canadian Balladeer, Stew passed away October 14th at the age of 94. He had been a friend of Golden West's for decades, and was always gracious with his time when we reached out to connect. This weekend, we celebrate his decades long performing and recording career by sharing some of his most popular country-gospel songs. 

Stew Clayton

"Dad had a music passion that was fostered with sheer determination," shared the family in Stew's obituary. "The chances of this shy 18 year old succeeding in music were miniscule, since he had never even seen a guitar being played, owned no instruments, and the one class he ever failed in school, was music.  Regardless, his dream was to perform music in the style of Canadian legend Wilf Carter... That boy who never feared a challenge, eventually summoned the courage to play a mouth organ and his guitar in public, although public singing wouldn’t appear for a couple more years. In 1950, he recorded several original songs at Mr. Veals’ house in Darlingford with his brother Reg holding the microphone to “My Married Life on the Plains, When the Ice Worms Nest Again and The Manitoba Waltz.” It would be many years before he tried recording again, but the thrill of singing original songs had begun."

We also are going back to July 2016, the last time we interviewed Stew, ahead of a performance in Winkler. Our former co-host Jayme Giesbrecht spoke with him, and we'll share a portion of that conversation as we pay tribute to Stew Clayton on Made in Manitoba.