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The London region has two iconic fiddlers in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame called Allen — and The Best London Country Podcast. Ever bows to both of them.

John P. Allen and the late Ward Allen are celebrated in this week’s episode —  Maple Sugar Hoedown: Great Canadian Fiddle Traditions.

Kirkton’s Ward Allen won fiddle awards from a young age and wrote the fiddle classic Maple Sugar in the 1950s, when he was a national star. He died in 1965. John P. Allen is in the CCMA-backed HOF as a member of Prairie Oyster — one of many groups he’s starred with — and is in the FCLMA London Music Hall of Fame as a solo performer. If we are doing our job right in Maple Sugar Hoedown: Great Canadian Fiddle Traditions, you will learn the relationship between Maple Sugar and Maple Sugar Sweetheart, a Hank Rivers song — and if Ward Allen and John P. Allen are related. Researching and writing for this episode of The Best London Country Music Podcast. Ever were Western University public history program graduates Lis Edwards and Lorraine Tinsley.

The Best London Country Music Podcast. Ever is grateful to the Canadian Country Music Association and 2021 London host organizing committee. Thank you to Western University’s Public History Program, Tourism London, London Music Office, Jonathan Holiff, Purple Hill Country Opry, Forest City London Music Awards and FCLMA London Music Hall of Fame, Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, Rocklands Talent and Longview Advertising, London Public Library, CBC and our wonderful team of researchers and writers. Here's to the 2021 CCMA Country Music Week. The Best London Country Music Podcast. Ever is hosted, produced, recorded, and mastered by Zahra Habib, with additional production support from Guillermo Gucciardi. The podcast was Executive Produced by CCMA 2021 London Host Organizing Committee Legacy members Harina Mokanan and James Stewart Reaney. The podcast showcases diverse, inclusive voices and creators across the London community. The Best Country Music Podcast. Ever is a testament to the remarkable talents of our researchers, historians, editors, and radio hosts.