Category Archives: Canadiana

Four days of incredible music with world class headliners and a rising group out of the Ottawa area stole the final day of Boots and Hearts with an incredibly high energy, Main Stage worthy, show on the Front Porch Stage on Sunday afternoon.

Atlantic Canada has a new Country Music Festival, Dooly’s Beach Blast, which has come and gone this past weekend.  The show took place at Parlee Beach, Shediac New Brunswick.  This event will not be forgotten and will talked about for sometime.  Some talk will be for good reasons and some for not so good reasons.

Much of the Sound Check team, myself included, has converged on Burls Creek this weekend for one of the most important events in the history of our organization, Boots and Hearts.

It was a sweltering weekend in Oro-Medonte and the weather wasn’t the only thing that was hot. With an attendance upwards of 40,000 people (a 5,000 person increase from last years inaugural event) WayHome was the place to be.

It wouldn’t be RBC Bluesfest, or any outdoor festival, if rain didn’t factor into the equation for at least a day or two of the event. But, to me anyway, that’s what makes it all the more special and memorable.

It’s hard to believe that it’s really only been 5 years since I first put pen to paper (so to speak) to write the first ever post for Sound Check Entertainment. Back then it was called the Hoedown Blogger and the platform was under the banner of the Ottawa Citizen but had it not been for that day none of what followed would be possible.

Proud Windsor, ON native, Kelsi Mayne is a Canadian Country Music singer-songwriter, 2016 FACTOR grant recipient, and Top 7 Finalist in the upcoming Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase. With an award-winning journalist as father and an acclaimed sculptor/muralist as a mother, Kelsi was constantly surrounded and influenced by a world of art. She developed her performing skills early on, competing on the Canada-U.S. Highland Dancing circuit. Soon she made moves to become a vocalist and began to achieve success in several talent competitions – once winning the opportunity to open for the Neverending White Lights when she was just 16 years old.

Sometimes I just need to sit back and recall that just 6 summers ago I started Sound Check Entertainment, almost by accident. The traction it received from festivals and events across Ottawa and Ontario almost immediately was mind blowing but nothing compares to the feeling this week as we stage a massive benefit for Fort McMurray in Toronto on Thursday called “Bright Lights, Big Country”.

It’s CMAO Monday so I thought it would be fun to dedicate this week’s edition of Monday Musings to discuss my picks for the third annual event. I should mention that I personally am not a member of the Country Music Association of Ontario, yet, so my picks have not influenced the outcome of tonight’s awards. 

So Gord Bamford brought his buddy Joe Nichols & Autumn Hill along for the ride on the Country Certified tour that landed at Algonquin College this past Monday night.   Our Sean Sisk was there to capture the show.  Here is his Photo Review of the event.