Storied career of Donny Parenteau garners Sask. Order of Merit

For Donny Parenteau, there wasn’t much of a learning curve when he first picked up the fiddle. Beginners typically take around six months to get the basics down. A young Parenteau, in high school, was getting the hang of things in the first evening.

“I could play half a fiddle tune that was in my head after one night,” said Parenteau.

The next day, after perplexing his parents with his sudden knack for fiddling, he went to his high school music teacher in Prince Albert to show him his newfound talent.

“He said, ‘you have a gift. Now here’s the second half of that tune’. Within a day and half, I was playing a tune.”

This wasn’t the first time the young Parenteau had perplexed adults around him. He had been playing the trombone in his high school band for over a year, all the while keeping an innocent secret: he couldn’t read music.

During one practice, a teacher called him out for not following along properly. Parenteau then admitted he was unable to read the sheet music, and had gotten by simply through watching the finger and hand movements from the other players around him.

“She didn’t believe me. After that, she gave the whole class a test. She told us all to go home and learn a song from the radio. The next day, I was the only kid who could do it,” said Parenteau.

“That’s when I knew there was something different about the way music was in me.”

Fast forward a few decades, and the multi-talented Métis singer-songwriter-fiddler-record-producer is being honoured with province’s highest civilian distinction, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit for his immeasurable contributions to music and Métis culture.

“I was absolutely shocked, surprised, and honoured. And very humbled when I see who I’m nominated with – there are doctors there,” said Parenteau.

“Somebody recently said to me, ‘music is healing. What do doctors do? Heal’. I’m not saying I’m a doctor but music is very healing and I would pity a world without music.”

Since he was 19 years old, Parenteau has been able to share his gift of music with the world. Parenteau got a kickstart in music by touring with American country music singer Neal McCoy. Touring across North America, Parenteau has had the opportunity to open for music legends including Merle Haggard, Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, George Jones, and Reba McEntire, to name a few.

Parenteau has also recorded three solo studio albums, thrice nominated for a Juno, and received several awards including the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards and Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

The Prince Albert-based artist has also started his own music academy, the Donny Parenteau School of Music, where he provides lessons on song writing, guitar, vocals, fiddle, and mandolin. He also dedicates time to touring the province, speaking to elementary schools about bullying.

“I want to give back, to always encourage others. To be someone who is remembered as being a musician with drive and passion, but not selfish,” said Parenteau.

Despite being surrounded by legendary musical talent throughout his career, Parenteau’s biggest musical influence as a musical artist has always been his late father, Wilbur Parenteau.

“People would ask what instrument my dad played, and I’d say, ‘he played the radio’. He would also play the music of the heroes I had – Charley Pride, Buck Owens, George Jones, Merle Haggard,” he said.