PHOTOS AND STORY BY GLEN R. FORRESTER

Country Thunder Saskatchewan 2022 was finally held on July 14 - 17, 2022 

after two years of shut down because of Covid. 

Thursday night started off in the beer gardens with Williams and Ree, which is Bruce William and Terry Ree, known has “The Indian and The White Guy”.  They are comedians since the late 1960’s. They performed their comedy act just before Chad Brownlee come out. Chad Brownlee is a Canadian from British Columbia.  He played ice hockey and was a defenceman before he became a country music artist. Chad put on a great show to start off Country Thunder.  

Friday afternoon, Andrew Hyatt went on stage. He is a Canadian from Ontario and before he did his music he worked as an iron worker at the nickel mine. Kamerow Marlowe came on afterward and he is from North Caroline USA. He was a contestant on season 15 on “The Voice”.  His single is “Giving You Up” which came out on June 14, 2019. When evening came, Tanya Tucker came out and sang her signature song which we all know “Delta Dawn”. Tanya released this song 1972 at the age of 13. Her faithful fans still love her now. Her hit song “Bring My Flowers Now” won her a Grammy for Best Country Song. Next on the stage Lindsay Ell a Canadian singer and songwriter from Alberta. She signed a U.S. record deal and her first album is “The Project”.  To end Friday off, Lee Brice, an American singer, came on the stage with the excitement of the crowd. In 2010 he broke the 62 year old record for the longest running song on the country charts with “Love Like Crazy”.     

On Saturday, Detour, a southern Saskatchewan band, opened the main stage in the afternoon. They kept you rockin' with hits from the 1990’s. William and Ree came on to do a short comedy act and introduced Shaw Austin, a Canadian singer songwriter from British Columbia. He came onstage and performed his hit songs including “Tailgate To Heaven”.  Then MacKenzi Porter, a well rounded Canadian country singer, songwriter and actress, took to the stage. The crowd all enjoyed her perform some of her number one Canadian hits.  Hardy, an American country music singer and songwriter who has written songs for Blake Shelton and Morgan Wallen. Morgan Wallen came on stage next to close the main stage. Morgan Wallen was in the sixth season of “The Voice”.  His debut album “If I Know Me” was released in 2018. In the year 2021 Morgan became bigger then big among his fans. Morgan’s debut album “If I Know Me” was in the top 10 for the first time. Since 2016 Morgan captured the most weeks at top of the charts for a male artist. He did not disappoint his faithful fans on his performance of the Saturday closing show.

Sunday started off with a Canadian performer, Bobby Wills, singing some of his hits including “Somebody Will”.  In 2013 Bobby won the Canadian country music association “Rising Star Award”.  Next up was Meghan Patrick.  Her music is influenced by Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Aretha Franklin. Her one country hit is “Walls Come Down”.  Next was The Washboard Union. They are a Canadian country bluegrass band that started out in 2010. The members are David Roberts, Aaron Grain, and Chris Duncombe. Their label is with Warner Music Canada. Then Lauren Alaina was saposed to come out. She was on a season of “American Idol”.  With her friend and former classmate Kane Brown, they had a number one hit “What Ifs”.  A storm rolled in and everyone was disappointed that she could not perform. To end the 2022 Country Thunder Saskatchewan, Blake Shelton took to the stage and performed a concert that was spectacular. Blake is well known for his role as a coach on the “The Voice”. Gwen Stefani came out to sing a couple songs with Blake and then sang one of her hits. 

The audience loved getting back to living life the way it should be.  

Thanks Country Thunder Saskatchewan for a great time and shows.