Stompin’ Tom Connors

On my walk through beautiful Erin, Ontario, I visited the grave of one of our country’s great folk singer-songwriters and poets: Stompin’ Tom Connors.

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Tom had a turbulent childhood and was eventually placed for adoption. By the age of 13, with guitar in hand, he ran away and began hitchhiking across Canada—a journey that would come to define him and his music.

His big break came in Timmins, Ontario. Short a nickel for a 35-cent beer at the Maple Leaf Hotel, the owner told him if he played a few songs, he’d forgive the debt—and even offer him another. Tom stayed on for 14 months, becoming a local favourite.

His trademark of stomping his left boot heel on a piece of plywood for rhythm earned him the nickname “that stompin’ guy”—and eventually, Stompin’ Tom. Those iconic stomp boards would later sell for as much as $15,000 at charitable auctions.

His music became the soundtrack of working-class Canada, with unforgettable songs like:
🎶 Sudbury Saturday Night
🎶 Bud the Spud
🎶 The Hockey Song – played at every Toronto Maple Leafs home game
🎶 Tillsonburg – a fan favourite and my personal pick

That once-neglected 13-year-old boy would go on to write over 300 songs, release nearly four dozen albums, and sell almost four million copies. In 2009, he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award and finally received the Order of Canada.

Stompin’ Tom Connors passed away on March 6, 2013, just outside Erin, Ontario. He was 77.

The headstone contains these words:

The body has returned to sod,
The spirit has returned to God.
So on this spot, no need for grief,
Here only lies a fallen leaf.
Until new blossoms form in time,
The tree is where I now reside.
But with this poem, as you can see,
They haven’t heard the last of me.

At the base of his gravestone was a frozen hockey puck with a $10 dollar bill underneath it.

1936-2013