This story is from out west (Lethbridge) but it reveals something I never realized. The Stampeders are back on tour and may be the only Canadian (or even American) band still at it with the entire original membership intact. Considering it's been more than 50 years, that's pretty amazing. 

Some other gems from the article showing how times have changed in the era of Spotify and YouTube:

Despite being named after the Calgary Stampede and growing up out west, founder Rich Dotson says the Stampeders always considered themselves as being from Toronto. 

"Stampeders is sort of a Toronto band, we’ve sort of been in that middle of no-man’s land. We spent some time in Calgary as The Rebounds and then transitioned to Stampeders."

But he believes if they hadn't come east, they would never have made it. Odd then, that their announced tour dates for 2023 bring them nowhere near Ontario or any points east, except for one gig in a place called Little Current, Ont. 

Then there's the importance of what some consider a dying medium.

“If you didn’t get on radio, it was pretty hard to get a fan base,” Dotson recalled.

When the band moved to Toronto, they tried to meet disc jockeys at the bigger radio stations to convince them to play Stampeders records on their shows.

“That’s how you made your connections here… it was more about trying to figure out how to get on a particular show.”

Whereas many bands break up acrimoniously after spending too much time in their own company, it's amazing they're still together all these years later and seem to have remained good friends.

Stampeders celebrating 50 years of music