STORY AND PHOTOS BY GLEN FORRESTER
Country Thunder Saskatchewan 2024 was held July 11 to 14.
The weekend started in the beer gardens on Thursday night with Canadian Gord Bamford from Alberta. The beer garden was packed with country music fans and everyone had a great time.
Friday afternoon on the main stage our “MC” was Bruce William and Storme Warren. Bruce William is with Terry Ree “The Indian and The White Guy”. They have been comedy host for Country Thunder for 40 years. Storme Warren works for Garth Brooks “Big 615” on TuneIn. Madeline Merlo was the first performer. She was born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. She wrote songs and recorded music with writer and producer Dan Swinimer. In 2015 Madeline won the CCMA Rising Star Award and BCCMA Female Artist Of The Year. In 2021 she signed her debut U.S. record deal with BBR Music Group in Nashville, TN. Phil Vassar came on after her. Vassar is an American songwriter and singer that is from Lynchburg, Virginia and now from Nashville, TN. He made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990’s and co-writing singles for other artists. Vassar sang a lot of his songs including his big hit “Just Another Day In Paradise”. Tenille Arts came on next. She is from Weyburn, Saskatchewan so she is a hometown girl made it big. Tenille came on around 7:00pm and what a treat she was, on the big stage and so close to home. In 2018 she was on the 22nd season of “The Bachelor” performing an original song “Moment Of Weakness”. Then in 2022 she signed with Dreamcatcher Artists. Jackson Dean came on at 8:30pm. He was the second to the last performance of the night. Jackson was born in Odenton, Maryland and now lives in Nashville, TN. Big Machine Records signed him in 2021 and he did a few songs that he has released. He opened for a few artists. One of his songs “Don’t Come Lookin” has charted on Country Airplay in 2022. Also the song was featured in an episode of the Paramount Network TV series “Yellowstone”. The last act of the night was Dallas Smith, a Canadian guy from New Westminster, British Columbia. He is currently with Big Loud Records. Dallas is the current record holder of most number one hits among all male Canadian artists on Billboards Canada Country charts. He put on a great performance and with lots of energy.
Saturday came fast and late in the afternoon Tim and The Glory Boys went on stage. These Canadian boys formed the band in 2013. They are Tin Neufeld, Colin Trask and Brenton Thorvaldson. They have won two “Juno Awards” and have been nominated for many awards though the years. Meghan Patrick is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter from Bowmanville, Ontario. Meghan is a dual citizen of Canada and United States. Her father was a Canadian and her mother is an American. She is very entertaining, and the crowd went wild when she sang “Walls Come Down” which was number one in Canada. Lonestar went on stage at 7:00pm which is a group from Texas. The group is Drew Womack, Michael Britt, Dean Sams and Keech Rainwater. They sang a lot of their hits which are all well known to everyone. The audience sang along with every song. Josh Ross a Canadian from Waterdown, Ontario came on at 8:30pm. Josh worked in construction management and also, he entered a lot of competitions. He began making trips to Nashville, TN in 2018, then he decided to move in 2019. He released his first radio single “If You Were A Song” as an independent artist. Now he is touring with Bailey Zimmerman in the United States, Great Britain and Ireland. Nickelback, the last band on the main stage, came on and they are a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. The band members are Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Daniel Adair and Ryan Peake. They were inducted into “The Canadian Music Hall Of Fame” in 2023. I can see why they are in the Hall of Fame after that awesome performance they did, what a great show.
On Sunday Jake Worthington came on late afternoon. He lives in LaPorte, Texas. Jake has opened for Cody Johnson, Riley Green, Pat Green, Hawk Williams Jr, Ernest and many more. His show was extremely good. One day someone will open for him. Shenandoah, an American band that was founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984. The band members are Marty Raybon, Mike McGuire, Donnie Allen, Paul Sanders and Austin Brown. Gary Allan was the second to last singer on the Country Thunder main stage. Gary was born in La Mirada, California and his name is Gary Allan Herzberg at birth. At the age of 13 he played in honky-tonks with his father. He had a long road but it payed off. Luke Combs was the last singer of the night on the main stage at Country Thunder Saskatchewan. Luke was born in Huntersville, North Carolina where he performed as a child. He left college to pursue his music career and also moved to Nashville where he lives with his wife Nicole Hocking and two sons. Luke did a great performance to end The Country Thunder Saskatchewan for 2024.
Thanks Country Thunder Saskatchewan for a great time and shows.
THANKS FOR THE MUSIC COUNTRY THUNDER SASKATCHEWAN!
For more information about Country Thunder go to there website: https://www.countrythunder.com/
