Sneezy Waters

{{Short description|Canadian singer}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Sneezy Waters | image = | image_size = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Peter Hodgson | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|3|1}} | birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | origin = | death_date =  | death_place = | genre = | occupation = Singer, songwriter, actor | instrument = Guitar | years_active =  | label = | associated_acts = | website =  }} '''Sneezy Waters''' (born Peter Hodgson; March 1, 1945) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and actor<ref>https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914177/ {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hank Williams Sr. in the play and film ''Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave''. He also works as a stagehand at the National Arts Centre in his home town of Ottawa, Ontario.<ref>[https://ma180.org/enewsharp/eNewsHarpJune2013.pdf "Folk Runs Deep"]. ''eNews Harp'', Musicians' Association of Ottawa-Gatineau<, June 2013.</ref>

==Biography== He began performing in Ottawa coffeehouses in his late teens and was a member of several local rock bands, including The Children (which included Bruce Cockburn) and A Rosewood Daydream, appearing with the latter at Expo '70, in Osaka, Japan. Taking the stage name Sneezy Waters he performed during the 1970s as a street musician in Ottawa and appeared as a soloist and with his Excellent Band at folk festivals and nightclubs elsewhere in the country.<ref name=ce/> Sneezy has toured extensively in Canada (including several Arctic communities), Japan, Hong Kong, Laos, Thailand, India, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. He cites influences as far flung as Woody Guthrie, Frank Zappa, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Lennon, and Willie P. Bennett.

From 1977 to 1990, he assumed the role of Hank Williams in the runaway hit ''Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave''. The play portrays an 'imaginary concert' that the legendary US country singer might have given New Year's Eve 1952 in Canton, Ohio, had he not died en route. It was premiered in November 1977 at the Beacon Arms Hotel, Ottawa, and then presented on tour throughout Canada and in the USA until 1982. It was also staged at the O Kanada cultural exhibition in Berlin in 1983. Waters gave some 300 stage performances as Williams, and also appeared in the film adaptation of the show, a made-for-Canadian-TV-movie that first aired 31 December 1980.<ref name=ce>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sneezy-waters-emc |title=Sneezy Waters |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> The show toured throughout Canada and the United States, and was part of O Kanada, a Canadian cultural festival in Berlin. The movie version of the play garnered rave reviews. In 1984. Waters received the Best Actor Award in the 3rd Festival International du Film Musical in Grenoble, France, for his role as Hank Williams. The film was also nominated for the best country motion picture in the 19th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.<ref name=bio>{{cite web |url=http://borealisrecords.com/artists/sneezy-waters/ |title=Sneezy Waters |publisher=Borealis Records bio |accessdate=April 3, 2014}}</ref>

He has been featured on many network radio and television shows including ''This Country in the Morning'', ''The Entertainers'', ''Variety Tonight'', ''Let's Sing Out'', ''The Family Brown Show'', ''Café Hibou'', ''Canada After Dark'', ''The Bob McLean Show'', ''Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show'', ''Ninety Minutes Live'', ''The Alan Thicke Show'', ''The Tommy Hunter Show'', ''The Twilight Zone'' ("Love Is Blind") and ''Super Country Superstars''.<ref name=ce/>

He has shared the stage with a number of musicians, including Joan Armatrading, John Hammond Jr., Roy Orbison, and Martin Mull.<ref name=bio/> He performed a number of concerts with fiddler Zeke Mazurek in Mt. Tabor.<ref name=countrylive>[http://www.countylive.ca/spectacular-benefit-for-renowned-county-fiddler/ "Fans fill Mt. Tabor for Zeke Aid 2"]. ''Country Live'', Oct 05, 2010</ref>

Sneezy Waters was inducted into the Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1997.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ottawacountrymusichof.org/inductees/sneezywaters.htm | title=Sneezy Waters }}</ref>

==Discography== *1975 ''Sneezy Waters, Robert Armes, Bent Stump String Band, John Allison'' (CBC Radio Canada – LM 423) ''(features four Sneezy recordings)'' *1978 ''You've Got Sawdust on the Floor of Your Heart'' (Sneezy Waters Records – SW5) *1981 ''Sneezy Waters Sings Hank Williams'' (Sawdust Records - SW6) ''(1999 CD release: Borealis Records BCD122)'' *1997 ''A Letter Home'' (Watershed Music – WM5) *2011 ''Sneezy Waters'' (sneezywaters.com) *2017 ''Sneezy Waters And His Very Fine Band LIVE'' (sneezywaters.com)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{discogs artist|2925111-Sneezy-Waters}} * {{IMDb title|0084048|Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave}} * {{IMDb name|0914177|Sneezy Waters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Sneezy}} Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Singers from Toronto Category:Male actors from Toronto Category:Canadian country singer-songwriters