Last night the community of Renfrew got together for the fifth annual Shake the Foundation event geared to raise money for the Renfrew Victoria Hospital Foundation. We were thrilled to sponsor this incredible event which this year featured headliners Jordan McIntosh and Sandi Skye.

The afternoon started off with a group of incredibly talented youngsters competing for the chance to perform on the stage later in the evening and let me tell you the future of country music in the Ottawa Valley is very strong. The young lady that won was just 11 years old and boy could she sing…check out this performance of Holly Dunn’s “Daddy’s Hands”:

Following the youth competition the 3 finalists from the Country 101.1 online voting took to the stage to perform in front of a panel of judges, myself included. All three finalists were incredibly strong but in the end it was Josh, JW, Stevens from North Bay that won the majority vote.

JW Stevens - photo by Hendrik Pape

JW Stevens – photo by Hendrik Pape

I shared clips from each of their performances last night on our Twitter page:

Here is JW’s performance of Eric Paslay’s hit “She Don’t Love You”:

Danny Silvestre out of Pembroke covered Randy Houser’s “Like A Cowboy”

Danny Sylvestre - photo by Hendrik Pape

Danny Sylvestre – photo by Hendrik Pape

checkout a clip of his performance below:

And Smith’s Falls Amanda Jordan took on Little Big Town’s smash hit “Girl Crush”

Amanda Jordan - photo by Hendrik Pape

Amanda Jordan – photo by Hendrik Pape

Here’s a clip of that performance:

The evening entertainment continued with some incredible local entertainment starting with some classic country by The Douglas Connection and then a classic rock, country mix provided by SouthPaw.

The Douglas Connection - photo by Hendrik Pape

The Douglas Connection – photo by Hendrik Pape

Although I had met Sandi Skye last night was my first time actually seeing her perform and boy let me tell you this woman has mad talent.  With new music hitting radio in the coming weeks you’ll want to check her out, something tells me you’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the coming years.

Sandi Skye - photo by Hendrik Pape

Sandi Skye – photo by Hendrik Pape

Between Sandi and Jordan the crowd was entertained by the incredible Ridin’ Shotgun band out of Ottawa. This band rocks out every major country hit, and a few of their own, and they do it with mad style. Made up of Terry McClelland and Danika Ellson and one heck of a four piece backup band! It didn’t take much for them to pack the dance floor.

Ridin' Shotgun - photo by Hendrik Pape

Ridin’ Shotgun – photo by Hendrik Pape

I’ve seen our headliner a number of times now, first at Boots and Hearts during the emerging artist competition a few years ago and then a few times since but boy let me tell you he’s come along way since the Boots and Hearts Front Porch stage. Last night’s performance showed a lot of passion, command of the stage and boy let me tell you this kid has a ton of soul and it really came across in his performance. One thing that hasn’t changed is his love and respect for his fans. I’m pretty certain there isn’t one teenaged girl, that was at the show last night, that doesn’t have a picture or video of Jordan on their phone today. As always he took the time after his show to meet with every fan until the last photo was taken and the last autograph was signed. If you couldn’t make it out to the show in Renfrew last night Jordan will be opening for George Canyon at the Crazy Horse in Ottawa on March 20, tickets are on-sale now!

Jordan McIntosh - photo by Hendrik Pape

Jordan McIntosh – photo by Hendrik Pape

A total dollar amount raised at last night’s event won’t be available for a few days but it’s safe to say that Shake the Foundation V was a huge success, we’re already looking forward to next year’s event! For more information be sure to visit www.shakethefoundation.net