Roy Payne

I first met Roy at the Horseshoe in the summer of 75
The horseshoe was across the street I was a regular and a good friend of Morty Starr the manager. Morty pointed to Roy setting up on stage. Morty told me that Roy owed him 3000 dollars so he had hired him for the whole month of August so he could get his money back. He told the waiter and the bartender not to let Roy have anything to drink until the last half of the show that night.
Morty went off to the office. I was sitting in a booth opposite the bar with Morgan Vice who was leader of the usual house band. suddenly I felt something grab my ankle. it was Roy he had crawled under all the empty booths going back to the stage so that Morty or the Bartender couldn't see him.
Get me a beer bye he croaked. I ordered him a beer and we became fast friends.
He was at my bar pretty well every night for the month.
At the end of the month Morty told me Roy owed him 6,000 dollars.
One night Roy found a water pistol somewhere and squirted me with it. I had the superior weapon an old fashioned pressurized seltzer bottle. I chased him all around the club finally cornering him behind the bar, in desperation he turned to face me unrolling a sheets of paper towel to hide behind.. Of course the seltzer bottle blew the soggy towels right into his face and stuck there like a soaked mime, which had all in the bar howling with laughter.
Roy knew every country singer. I met Billy Joe Shaver through Roy. Hanging out with Roy was an experience He would write songs on the go all night long . He wrote a pretty good song about a Drink menu one night.
Most radio listeners today (outside of Newfoundland, at least) probably haven’t heard of Roy Payne or his music. It’s their loss…the man was indeed a ‘character’… ahead of his time.
Larry Delaney
Roy Payne photo by Barb Blanchard / CMN


Roy Absalom Payne was born in Trout River, NL. He was raised by grandparents, served 12 years in the Canadian army, and was a truck driver amongst other odd jobs before making music his full-time vocation. All the while, Roy would write songs about his life experiences. I Wouldn't Take A Million Dollars For A Single Maple Leaf was written as he stepped off the plane from his last army trip to Egypt. Marriage breakdown, booze, and drug excesses were all great inspirations for Roy Payne's thirst in songwriting. While his recording career speaks for itself it's the lifestyle that surrounded it that probably says more. Roy Payne was a staple at the famed Horseshoe Club in Toronto, but the hard living and the rat race took its toll. He survived the loss of a lung which was a wake-up call. "I was getting on in life. The smog in Toronto was tough to deal with. I was using three puffers at a time to breathe. I needed some clean air." Roy moved up north and hasn't looked back since. "It's the best place for me this side of the Rock. I love it here. I can breathe. Down to one puffer every two weeks or so. I fish. I pedal a bike 15k every day. I write songs. What more could a man my age ask for?"
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