Stompin' Tom Has Big Summer Ahead

Canadian icon Stompin' Tom Connors will tour eastern Canada this summer in support of last fall's The Ballad Of Stompin' Tom.

The tour will include Connors' first performance in Newfoundland in almost 20 years and his first musical stops on Canada's east coast in seven years. The singer/songwriter will also make his debut at Casino Rama near Orillia, Ont.

Tickets go on sale on Friday for all shows except the gig at Casino Rama. Players Passport members can pick those up on Sunday, while the general public can buy them two days later.

If you can't make it to one of the shows, you can still keep Connors close to your heart — or at least your tongue — via a new postage stamp dedicated to him.

An updated version of the 24-track A Proud Canadian compilation was reissued earlier this year and three more albums from Connors' catalogue — Fiddle And Song, Live At The Horseshoe and My Stompin' Grounds — will be reissued by EMI Music Canada on June 16.

Digital versions of the 2009 releases will also be available, as they join Connors' ever-growing digital catalogue that was launched last year on Canada Day.

Connors began his music career in 1964 has since become an Officer of The Order Of Canada. He's received the Queen's Jubilee Medal, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award and SOCAN's Lifetime Achievement Award. He's the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, the University Of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown and the University Of Toronto.

The 73-year-old has written two autobiographies, the first of which was a #1 Canadian best-seller.

Connors will drink people under the table and smoke up a storm after these shows:

July 21 Belleville, ON @ The Empire Theatre
July 25 Summerside, PEI @ Credit Union Place
July 26 Charlottetown, PEI @ Civic Centre
July 28 Glace Bay, NS @ Savoy Theatre
July 31 St. John's, NL @ Mile One Stadium
Aug. 3 Antigonish, NS @ Charles V Keating Millennium Centre
Aug. 5 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium at Dalhousie University
Aug. 8 Saint John, NB @ Harbour Station
Aug. 9 Fredericton, NB @ The Fredericton Playhouse
Aug. 13 Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
Aug. 15 Pembroke, ON @ Pembroke Memorial Centre
Aug. 18 Sault Ste. Marie, ON @ Essar Centre
Aug. 22 Orillia, ON @ Casino Rama
Aug. 25 St. Catharines, ON @ CAW Hall
Aug. 27 London, ON @ Centennial Hall
Aug. 29 Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Place