Jeff Green | Aug 26, 2015


Fred Johnson has lived on Sharbot Lake since the early 1990s, on a property he purchased with his late wife many years earlier.

He retired from a career with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and turned a cottage into a waterfront home, as a number of people have done over the years. One of the things that Fred has done over his retirement years has been to put even more of his energy into a pursuit that has always been more than a hobby for him, Rudimental Drumming.

Rudimental Drumming was founded in 1933, when a group of military drummers decided to focus on 13 essential rudiments of drumming. This focus on precision and technique formed the basis for the rudimental drumming tradition, which continues to this day.

Fred Johnson's career as a drummer started in 1946, when he joined the 180th air cadets in Toronto. In the 1950s he branched out as he began to do some writing and drumming instruction while a member of the 2nd Signals Regiment.

Since then he has instructed and composed drumming arrangements and individual solos for 17 drum and bugle corps all over southern and western Ontario.

One of the drum sections he led was the Canada's Marching Ambassador drum section. That section produced two Canadian Individual Champions and five international judges.

He has an extensive resume as a judge in Canada and the United States.

In 1976, he founded the Canadian Association of Drumming Rudimental Excellence (CADRE). The CADRE competition group has been performing in events and competitions ever since. The competition group placed first in The World Drum Corps Associates ensemble championship for five consecutive years, from 2006 to 2010.

Fred was inducted to the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in 1998, the first Canadian to receive that honour.

The CADRE competition group continues to be active and is preparing for this year's championship in Rochester, New York in about a week. But before they travel to Rochester they are gathering in Sharbot Lake to prepare, and while they are in the area they will be taking over the Sharbot Lake Country Inn. Not only are a number of them staying at the inn, they will be presenting a free concert there as well on Saturday, August 29, from 3 to 5pm. Weather permitting they will be playing outside near the patio; otherwise in the Crossings Pub.

For Fred Johnson it is an opportunity to share his passion with his friends and neighbours.

“The sound of these drums, when played with precision, is something else. It has a power that is hard to describe. You have to hear it,” he said.

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