Sneezy Waters

Sneezy Waters (born Peter Hodgson on March 1, 1945) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitar player who is best known for his portrayal of Hank Williams Sr. in the play and film 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.

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.

Sneezy Waters began his professional career in the 1960s, and since that time 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 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.

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, and Super Country Superstars.

He has shared the stage with a number of musicians, including Joan Armatrading, John Hammond Jr., Roy Orbison, and Martin Mull.

• 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)
• 2011 Sneezy Waters (sneezywaters.com)