I asked some questions to the Now Country 104.7 FM Morning Show host and recent MCMA Awards host, Stefan Richard.

Here is a Q&A with Stefan Richard:

1. How do you choose what songs you play?

“There is a music director at most stations, especially ones that play new music, who is in charge of what gets played and how often songs need to rotate. So I don’t personally have a say as to what plays on my show but our music director (MJ) is very receptive to any kind of suggestions or questions that I have.”

2. How do you get ideas for your segments?

” I usually try to stay topical as to what is happening that news day or towards things that I am interested in or know a little bit about so I kind at least sound somewhat entertaining or know what I’m talking about. But it usually comes down to what people are talking about that day.”

3. What is your favourite thing about being a radio host?

“The creativity is my favorite aspect. I enjoy being able to tell a story to listeners that I find funny or interesting. It allows me to express myself in ways that I wouldn’t be able to in a regular conversation. I’d sound like a maniac if I started making observational jokes out of nowhere.”

4. How do you find new music to play? Do artists send their music to you?

“Yeah, usually a newer artist will reach out to our Music Director and send a song. But artists on a bigger label somewhere go through a different system of doing things and I have no idea how that works! So I trust in the people in charge of that to handle it.”

5. You did a great job hosting the MCMA Awards on the weekend, how was that experience and interacting with all the artists?!

“Thank you! That was a lot of fun. I got to spend the day with my co-host Don Amero and talk about ideas on how the show would go down. Don is one of the nicest people I’ve met in music so it was a lot of fun. The performances were filmed on a closed set because of the pandemic so it was just the hosts, artists who had just finished performing & ones who had yet to perform. So it was all this great music being performed in a great venue with a very small crew of people to enjoy it. Everyone was incredible to work with. I hope I am able to do it again next year!”

I hope you enjoyed this Q&A I did with Stefan and learned a little bit about what its like to work behind the scenes at a local country music radio station. You can listen to Stefan Richard on the 104.7 Morning Show from 6:00am- 10:00am.

Local Manitoba country music artist Emma Peterson started playing music at 11 years old. She fell in love with songwriting and the aspect of storytelling through music.

Emma released two new singles earlier this year, “Hurt Like Hell” and “One More Night,” which are both very successful on Canadian country radio stations.

At the end of September, she played her first live show since the pandemic. Emma played a drive-in concert in Brandon, Manitoba. “It felt so good to play music again. As soon as I got up there with my band, everything fell into place.”

The most memorable moment of her career so far was singing at the Manitoba Country Music Awards for the first time. Her whole family was able to come see her perform. “When they are able to see me do what I love, it fills my heart.” You can watch her perform at this year’s MCMA on November 6. This year, Emma is up for two awards, Female Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “Hurt Like Hell.”

The country music industry has a history of lacking female representation. As a female in the country music industry, Emma sees that the industry is definitely male dominant. “It’s no secret. People see it on the radio or at shows when a lineup is all males.”

She sees a big change happening where award shows are putting in more effort to include female artists, but there is still more work to be done. Emma has gotten a lot of support from radio, but she knows it isn’t the same case for everyone. She is grateful for the local female artists who took her under their wing at the start of
her career.

Emma’s goal is to do music full-time and record an album in the next few years.

I am looking forward to hearing new music from Emma Peterson soon and watching her performance at the Manitoba Country Music Awards!

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Manitoba Country Music Association Recognizes Local Talent

Manitoba has so much talent in the country music industry that deserves to be recognized.

The Manitoba Association of Country Arts was established in 1976 and in 2004 was renamed, The Manitoba Country Music Association (MCMA).

They have hosted the Manitoba Country Music Awards for five years with the goal to highlight Manitoba talent and recognize their work.

Without having the awards show last year, the anticipation for this year’s is high. Manitoba artists and fans cannot wait for the night that celebrates and honours local country music.

It will be a virtual event with live recordings of the artists performances, “it will be different, but will look the same,” said Miles Trach, president of the Manitoba Country Music Awards Board.

Ever wonder how your favourite artists get nominated and win awards? For the Manitoba Country Music Awards, fan and industry members can nominate artists they believe deserve an award. Once all the nominations are received, they pick the top six artists, that are later voted on by industry members. A category entirely voted by fans is the fan’s choice award.

Miles Trach says supporting local country music ” is vitally important for the health of the country music community in Manitoba and for the artists who are trying to make it a goal here in the province.”

The organization’s goal is to help the artists get recognition, support their careers and recognize their achievements.

You can watch this year’s Manitoba Country Music Awards on their Facebook and YouTube on November 6th and support all your favourite local country music artists.

A flashback to where it all began

Transcona band Petric grew up surrounded by music with a passion for performing. The band of two brothers Jason and Tom Petric, and long-time friend Jordan Day made a name for themselves in 2014 with the single Here Goes Everything. Since then, they have had great success with their EP 18 Ends and debut album Flashbacks at the beginning of this year.

Petric has played many memorable local shows, but one that stands out to them is Canada Day at the Lyric Theatre in 2017.

“I don’t know if there is anything more magical than a beautiful night on July 1st with 20,000 people in the field singing your songs,” said Jason Petric.

The song Single Problem off of Flashbacks is memorable for the band to play live, especially when the chorus hits and the crowd sings along.

They haven’t played a live show in about a year and a half and cannot wait to be able to sing their most recent songs off of Flashbacks for a live crowd.

Although there were no live shows this year, they managed to keep very busy with the release of Flashbacks and a music video for every song off the album.

The song that inspired the name for the album, Déjà Vu, was almost never released. After four years of holding onto the song, the band decided to add it to the album, and now it is one of their favourites. The release of this song opened up many doors for the band. Déjà Vu was their first song to radio in Australia and introduced them to a talented team who helped create the music video.

The pandemic allowed Petric to focus their time and energy on more music videos, market songs in other countries and put out the best possible content for the record.

“The pandemic offered us an opportunity to really reshape our band, hone in our team, and for that, honestly, I am pretty grateful for that opportunity,” said Jason Petric.

Petric has received a record-breaking amount of 12 nominations for the upcoming Manitoba Country Music Awards. You can vote for them in the fan’s choice category and check out their album and music videos from Flashbacks.