SunFest Day 2 saw the ideal festival weather with cloudy but sunny skies and moderate temperatures, a perfect back drop for another great Canadian line up.
Eric Church and more to Rock the River in Merritt BC this August
The Rockin’ River Music Fest is a B.C. family-owned and operated country music festival that takes place annually, on the BC Day long weekend, in Merritt, BC – incidentally also known as the ‘Country Music Capital of Canada’. This August 2-5 Eric Church will lead an all-star lineup which also includes Brett Eldredge, Dallas Smith, Dustin Lynch, Luke Combs and many more!
Introducing Danielle Marie
2015 was a big year for Danielle Marie, a young starlet, from western Canada, a CCMA Spotlight Performance at the Canadian Country Music Fan favourite Legends Show in Halifax, 4 BC Country Music Award Nominations, the 2015 BCCMA Ray McAuley Horizon Award and a radio tour throughout three provinces. Plus Danielle’s sophomore album Here Right Now broke the Top 25 iTunes Country Album Chart within 24 hours of release and her current single at radio, ‘Drive Away’, co-written with award winning Nashville writer Byron Hill, is proving to be her biggest yet and recently debuted on the Canadian Country Trax report currently at #74!
Manitoulin Country Fest adds Blackjack Billy to 10th Anniversary Lineup
Our friends at Manitoulin’s Country 100.7 The Island announced the final piece of the lineup for this summer’s special 10th Anniversary of Manitoulin Country Fest which takes place August 4-7 in Little Current, Ontario on Manitoulin Island.
Hendrik’s Top Country Artists to Watch in 2016
After reading through Corey’s top 10 artists to watch in 2016 I started thinking of who I would put in that list. There are definitely similarities between my 10 and Corey’s, as you will see. 2015 has been a big year for Canadian country music from the tour perspective with all the major players hitting the road, Dallas Smith started the year with his hugely successful “Tippin’ Point Tour” featuring Sundy Best and now this fall Dean Brody and Paul Brandt just wrapped up their “Road Trip Tour”, Brett Kissel and Jordan McIntosh are currently on the road with their “Airwaves Tour” and Tebey kicks off his “Three’s A Party Tour” with Jason Blaine and James Otto on Friday in Halifax and to cap off the year Tim Hicks is hitting the road with Cold Creek County and Jason Benoit for their “Get A Little Crazy Tour”. Notice something missing? Out of all the tours above only the “Road Trip Tour” featured tomatoes as an added ingredient with Lindi Ortega, Jess Moskaluke, Madeline Merlo and Whitney Rose featured throughout the tour.
So let’s take a look at who I think has the greatest chance of breaking out in the coming year, 2016.
Dallas Smith cleans house at the 2015 BCCMA Awards
It was all Dallas Smith at the 38th annual BCCMA Awards held last night at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, B.C.. Dallas took home the award for all but one of the categories he was nominated for, and he wasn’t even present to accept them as he was celebrating Ottawa’s New Country 94’s first birthday in Ottawa.
