Genre: Folk, Rock, Reggae, Jazz, Pop
Period: 1960s-present
Region: Toronto, Ontario
Fergus Hambleton is a Toronto based singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. He now has over fifty years in the business with experience in the pop, folk, rock, jazz, and reggae genres. His long list of skills include playing guitar, saxophone, and his smooth vocals. Hambleton’s relationship with the Jamaican community in Toronto and with reggae group the Sattalites, has helped shape the genre’s cultural influence on the city.
He began his career in the late 1960s with Yorkville folk/rock group, A Passing Fancy. He was later signed with Capitol Records releasing two albums including All The Right Noises (1971) and Town of Fergus (1972). Hambleton then began working with groups in Toronto’s Jamaican community on Eglinton West, now known as Little Jamaica, even playing saxophone for Leroy Sibbles’ band.
While on tour with singer Afreen, Hambleton met Jojo Bennett and together they would make Canadian reggae history. The pair became co-founders of The Sattalites band with its roots stemming on Eglinton. They first opened a music school called The Sattalites Music School, where they offered lessons to budding Toronto musicians on a pay-what-you-can basis. The school opened in 1981 and became a full-fledged band by 1982, with Hambleton on lead vocals and some of its students becoming members of the group.
The Sattalites would go on to win two JUNO awards among many other accolades, and were even invited to play at Jamaica’s Sunsplash Festival– a rarity for a Canadian reggae group. Bennett’s deep reggae grooves harmonizing with Hambleton’s pop/folk elements made the Sattalies an unstoppable force on the stage and a beloved reggae group across the nation.
Hambleton continues to tour with The Sattalites and works as a freelance musician, songwriter and composer. His unparalleled talents and strong relationship with the Afro-Caribbean community continues to help uplift and amplify Canada’s Black music history.
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