Granger Smith closes Festival Country de Lotbinière

And that’s a wrap. After three incredible nights of live music we’re done for another year. After 2 years of waiting Granger Smith finally made it to Canada and he didn’t disappoint, all be it one of the smaller crowds of the weekend (likely due to the final night being a Sunday)

The afternoon started off with a high energy performance from a group of Quebec boys called Four Wheel Drive. It was a show filled with high octane covers of some of the biggest country songs. Gaby, Mr. Lonely, Dutchy, Bowie, Ceddy and Hulky as they are affectionately know came out and played an incredible set to open the show. I chatted with the guys after the show to learn that not only are the involved with Four Wheel Drive a few members are in a band called The Wild Palominos and they just happened to have released their debut single “Long Way Home” on Friday. Check them out and be sure to stream their debut single: https://open.spotify.com/track/19pT8JeXlEgngbuJESErSm?si=60c052cabde54741

Our friend, who I didn’t even recognize backstage, Owen Barney kept the party going with a mix of his hits including his latest (and one of our personal favourites “You Make Me Wanna (Brown Eyed Girl)”. In my defense the last time I saw Owen he was clean shaven and had styled hair, this weekend he arrived having grown a full beard and was wearing a baseball cap so he was undercover 🤣.  Owen always puts on a great show and it was great to see this fresh new Canadian artist getting such an awesome response from the crowd in Quebec.

One of my bucket list acts was up next, Tim & The Glory Boys. Although I’ve had several opportunities to chat with Tim I’ve never been lucky enough to see them live so when they were added to the lineup last week I was really excited. They are known for their live performance so I knew the crowd would be in for a major treat. They did not disappoint the show had a mix of everything, from plenty of humour to incredible performances of some of their biggest hits as well as a couple of covers sprinkled in. The crowd loved it, I can’t wait to catch them again.

We had a chance to catch up with Tim before the show, listen to our interview above.

The headline act of the night needs little introduction. Originally slated to perform in 2019 Granger Smith had to cancel last minute due to a tragedy in his family a week before the event. Then slated to perform in 2020 that show was cancelled due to the global pandemic. In 2021 organizers decided to give it another kick at the can by moving the show to the end of September….and it paid off.

Granger Smith and Earl Dibbles Jr. made it to Canada and brought one heck of a show to Lotbinière. Having never seen Granger before I had no idea what to expect but I figured anyone who has a redneck alter ego named Earl Dibbles Jr must be a boat load of fun…and that he was. The show consisted of a mix of his hits from Backroad Song to Happens Like That to Don’t Tread on Me. Through out his set Granger spent a fair portion standing at the front of the stage signing everything and anything that fans would give him to sign. You could tell he was truly gracious to be there and the fans, some who came from as far as Nova Scotia, were thrilled.

No Granger Smith show would be complete without a visit from his redneck friend Earl Dibbles Jr and last night was no different. Earl showed up and was unleashed on the crowd for “The Country Boy Song” and the crowd went wild. I’m sure they could be heard in Montreal they were so loud.

It was an epic, and chilly, end to an epic weekend. Kudos to everyone at Festival Country de Lotbinière, Pierre-Marc, Guillaume, Sebastien and everyone on their team for putting on such a well organized, safe event for us all to enjoy this year. I hope this is a sign of things to come and that next summer normal can return to the live entertainment business. As for this festival…I asked what the plan was for 2022 and the current plan is to return to their original dates in the spring which means…LESS THAN A YEAR TO GO BEFORE WE DO IT ALL AGAIN!

That’s a wrap from St. Agapit…time to head back to Ontario…see you in 2022 mes amis!

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