The Rockin’ River Music Fest is a B.C. family-owned and operated country music festival that takes place annually, on the BC Day long weekend, in Merritt, BC – incidentally also known as the ‘Country Music Capital of Canada’. This August 2-5 Eric Church will lead an all-star lineup which also includes Brett Eldredge, Dallas Smith, Dustin Lynch, Luke Combs and many more!

It’s official! Your 2017 Manitoulin Country Festival line-up is complete! Joe Nichols is the last piece of the puzzle and we think he makes the perfect fit!

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.  

Halifax was happy that Gord Bamford decided to return after seeing his performance during CCMA Music Week last year. Good brought along  Joe Nichols and fellow Maritimer Tristan Horncastle for this one. Gord has been quoted saying how he loves the Maritimes. The food, the beer, the friendly people.  

Back on a chilly night at the end of January, I was lucky  to be one of maybe 100 people to sit in on a taping of, “The Drop”, on CMT. This night was all about Gord Bamford’s upcoming release, “Tin Roof”.

After the small crowd shuffled into the historic Aeolian Hall, in London, it was time to get rolling.  Jesse Mast warmed up the crowd with a couple of tunes. He is going to be someone to watch this coming year with his recent release to radio of, “Bad Blood”.  You won’t want to miss him on the Certified Country Tour this summer with Gord Bamford and Joe Nichols.

With a quick run down on what was going to happen from the show’s director, producers, and the crew from CMT, it was time for all of us in the intimate crowd to put on our TV faces and get ready to be a star. Wait, who am I kidding, the real star was Gord Bamford.

Without giving too much away of what happened that night, because we want you to catch the show, let’s just say you won’t be disappointed.  (LINK TO WATCH ONLINE HERE)

Gord and his band were very engaging with the small crowd, having a few chats here and there, along with playing a couple of requests. There was a moment where he asked the crowd what his next single should be. All I will say about that is the song I chose didn’t make it, however, I think closer to summer he will be releasing a cottage and camping anthem, which will includes two of my favorite things, breakfast and beer.

After about an hour, the director yelled out the famous words, “that’s a wrap!”, and now it was time for Gord and his band to have a little fun for the small crowd that was there. We got to hear some classic Gord Bamford songs, and it felt like we got to let loose and enjoy the evening. There was a great rendition of, “Don’t Stop Believing”, by Lisa Dobbs, who plays bass in Gord’s band. The band was rocking and having a good time.

The night had to come to an end, however, but not without Gord spending a few minutes signing some autographs and taking a few photos with the fans who were lucky enough to score a spot on the guest list that night.

Bill Woodcock / @BillWoodcock

We had a chance to chat with Sony Music Canada recording artist and 12x CCMA Winner Gord Bamford about his upcoming album Tin Roof.  Gord is also about to embark on a cross Canada tour with label mate Joe Nichols starting April 7th so we talked a little about that to.  Here is our conversation.

It was late November and Autumn Hill, Jason Benoit and River Town Saints played four shows on a quick little jaunt across Ontario with the first stop in Ottawa then off to Hamilton, Kitchener and London to close things out.   Four fantastic nights of music.  We were made it to three of the shows and well we all agreed that all were fantastic.

It was a big day for country music concert announcements especially if you live in eastern Ontario.  Reigning three-time ACM Male Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year nominee Jason Aldean announced his “We Were Here Tour” and 22-time CCMA Award winner Gord Bamford along with 4-time Grammy nominee Joe Nichols announced today their co-headline “Certified Country Tour”.

So next week London, Ontario turns into one of Ontario’s go to destinations for concert goer’s of all types.

Jones Entertainment Group has put together another amazing year of Rock The Park as well as the 2nd Year for the expanded Gone Country Music Festival.  Now as most of you know I am a die-hard country music buff so this is one of the key festivals for me this summer and with the final lineup being confirmed just a couple of weeks ago due to Little Big Town having to pull out due to some medical issues within the band.   Here is what Brad and his team have lined up for entertainment.

So…

With the loss of Little Big Town to their line up it seems that Brad Jones and the crew at Jones Entertainment Group were going to have to go back to the well and figure out what they could get in place of such a high-profile band for the 2nd Annual Gone Country Music Festival being held in London, Ontario July 16 & 17th.