James Barker Band closed Festival Country Lotbinière in grand fashion

The sun finally greeted us when we awoke on Sunday morning, after being absent much of the weekend. Although not completely gone the mud started to dry up enough that you could walk on it without losing your leg…it was a good day for a music festival.

As with the previous days the free shows on the francophone stage started earlier in the day, we’ll have separate coverage coming for those so stay tuned.

Shawn Austin kicked things off wasting no time picking up the energy, letting the crowd know that his mother was from Montreal sent them into a frenzy. He set the bar for the night and it didn’t stop until long after dark. Even JoJo Mason made an appearance to the thrill of everyone in the crowd.

Tim & the Glory Boys took to the stage next. They were a surprising, but welcome, addition to this year’s lineup consider they just played at the festival in September. I was doing an interview last fall so I missed a lot of their set, I was determined to catch the full set this spring but, yet again, I got called into an interview but I still managed to catch most of it and what I can tell you is that these guys are fun. They all have a great sense of humour, on and off the stage and it really translates into a great show.

They wrapped up their show with an encore…well they never left the stage but we all played along so for their sake it was an encore. The song choice was interesting but fits with the band’s goofy brand…they finished their set with a cover of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” which the crowd thought was the greatest thing ever…to be honest at first I was certain Tim was Rickrolling us all and was going to shift into something else but nope, that was the song they chose and oddly enough it worked very well. Good news for fans of Tim & The Glory Boys they’ve got new music on the way. A new summer song is coming your way on July 8 and it’s perfect for when you’re “Floatin'” in the pool…something that Tim told me he plans on doing a lot of in July as the band has some downtime before a busy August takes them back on the road.

I’m not sure if last night’s headliners need much of an introduction…James Barker and the boys have performed at this festival 3 times in the 6 years that this festival has existed. A number of artists have appeared twice but I believe JBB are the only ones that have appeared three times. The reason is clear, the crowds in Quebec LOVE James Barker Band and last night was no different. It could pour rain, and it has, and the crowds would still come out in huge numbers. Ask James Barker or any of the guys in the band and they’ll tell you everytime that hands down the Lotbinière stage is the best crowd they’ve ever performed in front of. The guys are currently on a short break from Dallas Smith’s cross Canada tour and took father’s day to come and perform in Quebec…their only headlining set this year so far.

The boys would not disappoint either, mustering up all of their energy to give the fans every bit of what they had for just over 90 minutes. No hits were left off the setlist, even a hit that James co-wrote with Jade Eagleson made the list for a rare slow song at a James Barker show…I guess the fact that half of the guys in the band are now dad’s is starting to soften them a bit ;-).

The band closed out the night, and the weekend, with a killer performance of “Chills” so good that it actually gave me the chills. As as testament to how humble these guys are when a group of die hard fans who travelled from Ontario asked if a couple of them could come out and say hello all four of them came back out to the fence line to chat and visit. More proof that we’re all one big family in country music.

That’s wrap for another year. The rain didn’t dampen our spirits as long as the music was hot and the beer was cold. I saw a lot more faces from Ontario in the crowd this year so I hope that, by now, everyone….or almost everyone, is home safely. To those still travelling, those that live in the Toronto area have a good 11 hours of travel time, travel safe and, hopefully, we’ll see you all back in Lotbinière in 2023!

Special thanks, as always, to Tourisme Chaudiere-Appalaches. If it weren’t for them our coverage of this event would be next to impossible. Next time you’re looking for a place to vacation why not consider the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, 15,083.25 square kilometres of adventure just waiting to be discovered! Click here for 15 must see attractions rated by over 1000 tourists!  So as they say in French à bientôt, see you next spring!

More Photos by Nicolas Racine