The New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame inducted five new members in Fredericton on Saturday.

Among them is Al Dupuis, who performed as a solo act around the Maritimes, as well as Quebec and Ontario, for more than 20 years.

"Music has been something I've been doing since I was young," said Dupuis, who now teaches French at Digby Regional High School in Nova Scotia.

"My father was a fiddler, and I started chording him on guitar when I was about nine years old.

"I started out on a $5 guitar that he'd bought from somebody and they'd found it in a dump. It had a crack on the back, and the strings were frayed, and that's what I started on."

Dupuis began his adult life as a teacher, but put that on hold to pursue a career in music.

He recorded two albums in Nashville and made numerous television appearances.

Dupuis also won the Maritime Contemporary Song Writing Contest in 1988 and was declared country male vocalist of the year at the 1990 Francophone Music Awards.

"This is not an easy business, and Al has certainly stuck with it through the years and done his thing," said Ivan Hicks, president of the Hall of Fame and a previous inductee.

"I think this is a great place to recognize what these folks have done."

The other inductees this year are Stan Taylor, Johnny Comfort, Reg Gallant and Hughie Yorke.