About Ron
Who is this fellow in the fancy headgear?
Ron Moores was the youngest of four children, born in Port Washington, Long Island, New York to a Newfoundland father and a South Carolinian mother. At 12, he moved to the rural town of St. Luc, Quebec, in the Richelieu Valley, near Montréal and attended Royal George High School in Greenfield Park.
He graduated from Sir George Williams University, (now Concordia) where he was a member of the Honour Society (Garnet Key) as well as President of the Students Undergraduate Society. He holds a Master of Arts in Labour Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York City and he worked in Montréal and Winnipeg, before settling in Ottawa then Mont Cascades in Cantley, QC for 40 years until he moved across the river to Chelsea.
During this period, he travelled extensively across Canada – “from Bonavista to Vancouver Island”. In addition, he taught courses in labour economics and labour relations at Concordia University, Carleton University, and the University of Ottawa. He happily left government in 1995 and until 2017 did consulting work for several organizations.
In April 1993, Bill Grant, the founding host of the Back 40, invited Ron to join the Back 40 “Collective” of Bill, Doug Torrance and Dave de Jongh. When Bill Grant suddenly passed away in the summer of 1993 and Doug and Dave moved from Ottawa, the show fell entirely to Ron. He has kept the show true to its original intent by building on the traditional Country, Western and Bluegrass theme.
Ron produces a quality show each week as hours of research, interviewing and development go into each program. He has established a natural, friendly style and an endless fascination for the people and stories behind the music.
His natural moderator’s style has led to an expanding role as the MC of feature artists and bands at music venues and festivals from Ontario to Newfoundland. Being fluently bilingual, he regularly introduces artists at the Black Sheep in Wakefield QC, at the Ottawa Valley Bluegrass Association Concert Series and the Valley Bluegrass Festival in Renfrew. He has also hosted events such as the Perth Stewart Park Festival, the Vankleek Bluegrass Festival, the Sand Road Bluegrass Festival, the Bluegrass Stage at the Palmer Rapids Twin Festivals, as well as the Trails, Tales and Tunes Festival in Gross Morne NL and the Newfoundland-Labrador Folk Festival in St. John’s.
For nearly a decade, Ron performed throughout the valley with his “Back 40 Band” that played Country, Western and Bluegrass music for a variety of audiences from seniors’ residences, hospitals, community groups, employee events, service clubs and festivals. For six years, Ron and his band hosted “The Back 40 Stage” at Rasputins until shortly before it closed. Ron also performs solo on occasion at benefits and various other concerts, festivals and events. He has performed on several occasions at the former Lake Doré Jamboree, and at the legendary “Ship Pub” and at “Auntie Craes” in St. John’s Newfoundland, as well as at the Ottawa Valley Music Annual Awards ceremony in Ottawa.
Ron is a big supporter of not-for-profit community radio because it gives a voice and ear to facets of our community that disappear in typical commercial station programming. Community radio lets people create a connection to the many unique slices of our community – ethnic, musical, lifestyle or interests. Ron served on the Board of Directors of CKCU for several years, including as its Chair, helping to restructure the finances and management of the station during a very rocky period in its history. In the early years, he served as an advisor to the Board of Directors of Valley Heritage Radio.
In September 2007, Ron created and began broadcasting “Sounds Atlantic” on CJHR 98.7 FM Heritage Radio. This two-hour program was broadcast Sunday evenings until 2020 from 8-10 and featured music from artists throughout Atlantic Canada. It is now available as a podcast.
Well – that’s a wrap on the guy in the fancy head gear!
Ron’s Awards
– 2002: The Red Bennet Award (DJ of the year), Ottawa Valley Music Association
– 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009: DJ of the Year Central Canada Bluegrass Awards -(retired from winning in 2010)
– 2010: Inductee into the Central Canada Bluegrass Awards Hall of Honour
– 2011: David Tinkoff Award (for contributions to the Ottawa Valley Bluegrass community)