Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers have been immortalized forever – in petrified form. Thanks to a professor of paleontology at the University of Iowa, two recently discovered fossils were named after the legendary trio that entertains audiences at their home in Newfoundland and Labrador — and beyond — for decades. The 460 million year old trilobite species will be known as Oenonella wasisnamei and Oenenella otherfellersorum. Jonathan Adrain, originally from Alberta, became acquainted with the music of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers while spending his summers in Newfoundland in the 1990s. “I worked in Newfoundland and western Newfoundland in four separate summers,” Andrén said. “On the 1996 trip, we stopped at a gas station and bought a Makin ‘cassette for the Harbor album. I just played it non-stop for the rest of the trip. the soundtrack was Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers “. The two trilobites were discovered near the town of Maine Brook, south of St. Anthony. A trilobite, extinct for 250 million years, was a marine arthropod that lived at the bottom of the ocean and looked quite like a horseshoe crab. The fossils discovered were some of the smallest adult trilobites Adrain has ever found. The 460-million-year-old trilobite species, similar to the one pictured here, will be known as Oenonella wasisnamei and Oenenella otherfellersorum, thanks to Jonathan Adrain. (Submitted by Andie Bulman) While older performers often joke about fossils, Adrain said, naming the trilobites after the band is actually a way of paying tribute. “I’ve always called it all sorts of weird stuff, but it’s always a tribute,” Adrain said. “He’s always someone who means something or has been with me for a while in my life.” Even the trilobites who were chosen to honor the team were chosen for a specific reason. Normally, Adrain explained, he named a different genre after each member of a band. “I was looking for some very nice, closely related genres. Because the band name itself is a little funny, I was looking for two genres with which I could do the same kind of joke.” Among other things, Adrain has named fossils: members of the Edmonton Oilers, Beatles, drag queens and even a taxi driver who did not charge him for his trip to the airport. The music trio, consisting of Kevin Blackmore, Wayne Chaulk and Ray Johnson, released their first album in 1986. (St. John’s Arts & Culture Center) Buddy Wasisname and Other Fellers are now on this list. Decades after he first heard the band’s music, Adrian still holds them close and dear to his heart. His favorite song is Where the Mountains Meets the Bay. “The funny stuff is great, but there are so many, very deeply moving songs. This is what I really have left.” Wayne Chaulk, one of the Other Fellers, said he was shocked to hear – via email from Kevin Blackmore, also known as Buddy Wasisname – that it was now a fossil. “I received a crazy email from my friend Kevin informing me that we have now reached the pinnacle of fame,” he said with a laugh. “You’re not getting any better than that, eh!” Chaulk said the distinction is one of the most unique he has received in the last 37 years with the band. “Whenever someone recognizes you in some way for what you accomplish, when it shows gratitude, when it appears with a thank you symbol, that’s a feather in your hat,” said Chaulk. “That’s nice.” LISTEN Jonathan Adrain explains that he names the recently discovered fossils as Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers:
St John’s Morning Morning Show 7:46 Wasisname friend immortalized as fossils We hear from a paleontologist who named two species of trilobite that were recently discovered by Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labador