Fred McKenna was born blind and raised in Fredericton but educated at The Halifax School For The Blind. He picked up guitar at the age of 11 using the Hawaiian lap style (chording with three fingers on his left hand).
He played throughout the maritimes in his late teens and won a talent contest which to an appearance on Wheeling, West Virginia's WWVA's 'Jamboree'. Don Messer saw the show and started McKenna's career with appearances on 'Don Messer's Jamboree' in 1958.
McKenna joined the cast of 'Sing Along Jubilee' in 1961 and though he moved to Toronto in 1968, he commuted to Halifax to continue on 'Singalong Jubilee' and CBC TV's 'Countrytime' until 1973.
He also was a regular on Harry Hibbs' 'At The Caribou' and toured extensively as a soloist in eastern Canada. Following his stint on 'Countrytime', he became music director of the privately syndicated 'George Hamilton IV Show' from Hamilton, Ontario - a position he held until his death in 1977.
McKenna started his recording career on Rodeo Records in the 1950's and would go on to record 31 LPs over cover tunes with ARC and one record, containing originals for RCA.
