Rain and mud did little to dampen the spirits of country fans in Quebec

We’re back to our regularly scheduled weekend less than a year since the last edition of Festival Country de Lotbinière and, once again, festival organizers were dealt with a forecast of rain and gloom…in other words…perfect weather for an all Canadian lineup for a country festival.

New this year is a free stage dedicated to francophone artists, we’re giving special, separate, coverage to this stage so don’t miss it.

2019 Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist showcase winner, David Boyd Janes, kicked the show off with a high energy set that was firing on all cylinders. DBJ brings a certain energy to his performance that infects the crowd. For those who don’t know DBJ up until 2017 he sold furnaces for a living when one day he decided he had enough and chose to pursue a career in music. Fast forward 5 years and he’s rockin’ a cat walk, kicking off his cowboy boots and tossing them to fans in the crowd at a music festival in Quebec about 10 hours drive from where he grew up. He discovered that country music fans in Quebec are also fans of his and that seemed to fire him up even more. Chatting with David backstage with Keenan, my 14 year old who has been attending shows with me since he was 4 years old, he took the opportunity to impart some words of wisdom. He told Keenan to follow his dreams and never let anyone tell him that he shouldn’t, or couldn’t, do something he loved. In David’s own words “Thoughts Become Things”. So to all you parents out there with budding young country fans in the house…introduce them to DBJ you might just find them inspired to follow their dreams. Shout out to his proud papa, Boyd, who I had the pleasure of chatting with while David was on stage. The music business is definitely a family business in the Janes household, like it is in mine.

Oh and one more thing…to all of you adults who like beer…David Boyd Janes has a beer line now too and he was gracious enough to give me a few cans last night. You’ve got to try this beer, I think it’s a new favourite for me! Checkout Back Country Lager on Instagram here!  If you don’t like beer but love David Boyd Janes you can, and should, follow him here!

Up next was, BC based, MDM Recording artist Tyler Joe Miller. Miller rose to fame as the first independent artist to debut with back-to-back No. 1 hits on the Billboard Canada Country chart with “Pillow Talkin'” and “I Would Be Over Me Too”…oh and it’s worth mentioning that those were the first two singles he ever released. Any question how or why an indie artist can be so successful so quickly was answered the minute he stepped on stage. The connection with the audience was immediate. On stage his personality shone through in his music but what struck me was, much like DBJ before him, no sooner did his set finish he was at the fence line meeting with fans, signing anything and everything (yes everything lol), taking photos with anyone who wanted their photo taken and all the while grinning from ear to ear like a kid that was just taken to a candy store for the first time, not surprising considering that his career basically exploded during a global pandemic and he’s just now starting to get a taste of how big of a star he really is in this country. What many don’t know about Tyler is that he owns a non-profit organization called The Climb Outreach Society, which provides housing, drinking water sources, as well as emergency food funds and healthcare for newborn babies in Central and South America. We’ll have more on Tyler in the coming weeks as he’s got new music coming and he’ll be joining the upcoming new season of the SCE Sound Bites podcast so stay tuned. In the meantime be sure to checkout Tyler Joe Miller online here!

Vancouver’s Chad Brownlee drove all the way from BC for his first show in 9 months, his last being a show in Truro, Nova Scotia. It’s been a rough couple of years for Chad. He released his first album in 4 years in January 2020, had a massive cross-Canada tour scheduled which he then had to cancel due to a health concern and then the world shut down due to a global pandemic. It’s hard to stay positive when you’re dealt a hand like that but yet Chad Brownlee is still here, found a way to stay busy and focused over the past two years and gave the crowd one hell of a show in the pouring rain. I had a chance to chat with Chad before the show and he still has the spark and passion for music that he had when we last spoke ahead of the Back In the Game album release. Even more good news for Chad Brownlee fans, new music is coming. No specific date available as of last night but the first single will likely arrive sometime this fall. Watch for the full interview coming up later this weekend on the SCE Sound Bites podcast. Keep an eye on Chad’s website for news on when you can expect his new music to arrive.

That’s a wrap for day 1. It may have been soggy and muddy but it won’t make the night any less memorable. Looking like today will be much of the same, only with much cooler temperatures so it’s about time I get myself ready for another day in the trenches. As always keep an eye on our socials for live coverage all weekend.

Coming up tonight performances by Nate Haller, The Reklaws and Dean Brody plus this afternoon we’ll be covering a special CD release for Phil Lauzon which will take part in the free entertainment area so if you happen to be in the area why not stop in and check it out. Full details on all of this weekend’s events can be found at https://countrylotbiniere.com/

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