Heather Wright/The Independent

When John MacFadden started playing the trumpet as a young boy in Stratford, he had no idea it would lead him to the International Bugler’s Hall of Fame.

But that’s just where the Petrolia musician will be this weekend as he’s inducted among all-time greats of the brass instruments including one of his long-time favourites, Chuck Mangione.

MacFadden lived in Stratford when he first picked up an instrument. Soon, he was travelling to London to play with drum corp there. In 1970, the group won a world championship.

By the age of 15, MacFadden had a number of gold medals from music festivals and honours from his hometown. And, he started writing his own music. 

Over the decades, MacFadden has played with drum corps in Canada and the United States and written arrangements and original pieces for them. He’s also taught at Western University’s marching band program.

Most recently, he’s been playing with Wallaceburg’s big band, The Brass Factory, arranging tunes and performing.

“I don’t play as good as I did when I was 25 but still can play anything anybody throws at me at any concert band around,” he says. 

MacFadden’s best known for playing the melophone – a cross between the French horn and a flugel. 

He also plays the trombone, trumpet and the flugel. 

MacFadden is also a prolific writer. “I’m working with some local musicians in London and Toronto, old professional friends of mine to see if I can put an album together with a bunch of songs I’ve probably written a couple 100 songs over the years,” he said.

MacFadden used to sit down with pencil and music paper and work out the songs, admitting sometimes they would take months to complete. Today, he uses technology to work out his arrangements. 

“I can write all the notes exactly where they should be, but the computer will play it back to me, sounding like a trumpet or a French horn, so it’s made my writing much faster than it used to be.”

MacFadden has been nominated for induction into the Buglers’ Hall of Fame before. 

“that’s kind of special to be recognized with some of the people who are the best.”

He’ll be inducted with one of his all-time favourite performers, Mangione and will get to play during the special weekend in Corning, New York. 

MacFadden knows the honour may come as a surprise to people who in Petrolia who know him better as “the guy who makes pizzas” but he says music has always been part of his spirit. And MacFadden says he has learned “literally everything” about life from music. 

“The things I learned as a young kid, musically speaking, were playing together, playing well together, being part of a team – everything sounds better when you’re working together. You learn discipline a lot, especially through the drum corp fraternity, more than any others

“You learn the discipline of practice, practice, practice, practice. You learn all the things about planning and plotting your success, if you will, with it. 

“I carried a lot of that stuff into the restaurant industry with me that you know, we’ve got to work together as a team.”