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Growing up in McKenzie, it is commonplace to learn how to fish and hunt long before you become school age. Like most of my counterparts, I have a love for the outdoors and can think of no place better than in boat bass fishing.
Needless to say, if you are from McKenzie the name Steve McCadams brings to mind an image of a man living the dream. Growing up in his father’s store, McCadams Implement Company, he developed a love for music and being out in nature hunting and fishing.
“You could always hear a good fishing or hunting story there,” Steve said, referring to his father’s store. The business, started by Steve’s father, Doug, and uncle, Rom, was a gathering point for farmers and other men who enjoyed sharing their stories.
Doug kept bird dogs and a Labrador for hunting, and when Steve was small he had a beagle he used for rabbit hunting. He grew to enjoy hunting that involved the companionship of a dog, especially a lab. “I’ve always had a lab, and I guess always will.”
In school, he was a member of the band, but soon his interest in music expanded when he along with Kenny Melton, Ronnie Russell and Tommy McDonald formed the band “The Counts.” Steve was responsible for the trumpet and keyboard. As time progressed, Steven joined “The Authority” traveling in the Southeastern United States playing colleges and other functions. Kenny Melton joined Steve with Glynn Mebane and John Waddle to form the group.
“We kept a lot of people in McKenzie up nights practicing in Daddy’s old shop. They put up with us pretty good through the years,” Steve recalled in an interview about his musical career.
In 1976, the “The Authority” was no more as the bandmates went in different directions, some graduated, others got married and began families. Steve finished high school in 1972 and earned a biology degree from Bethel College in 1978. Through his college years, hunting and fishing still held an important role in his life. Carroll Lake and Kentucky Lake is where he spent much of his time learning to be a fisherman. This led to him starting to work as a guide in 1972.
“I couldn’t believe somebody would pay me to go hunting and fishing,” he said. Steve found his way to the Paris Landing area. “I used to live at the lake in my single days.” Soon he would give up his single days.