JR Charron, the talented local country/rock performer and songwriter hailing from Manitoba, has been making waves in the music scene. His single “Killin’ Frost,” released last summer, received great success from fans. Recently, JR celebrated a remarkable five nominations at the Manitoba Country Music Awards, including nods for ‘Song and Single of the Year,’ ‘Male Artist,’ ‘Interactive Artist,’ and ‘Fans’ Choice.’

He released a new single “Too Good To Leave” on April 19, which has which has quickly gained traction on Canadian country radio. The song is about past fun-loving relationships that tells the story of a couple who is stuck in a never-ending relationship and aren’t good for each other.

JR Charron writes most of the songs he releases including “Too Good To Leave” that he wrote with Max Dupas, Ben Hodges, and Dan Poperechny.

Charron also released a music video for “Too Good To Leave!” The video was a spur of the moment decision when a show got cancelled and some free time allowed for a music video to come together unexpectedly.

Charron is busy working on a lot of new music with a single coming out in time for summer and he should have a body of music in the fall or winter.

He is always prioritizing his music and making sure he releases the best music possible.

Charron has some upcoming shows this summer including Dauphin’s Countryfest on Saturday, June 29!

Make sure to listen to “Too Good To Leave” and watch the music video!

Mackenzie Porter is a Canadian born, Nashville based country music artist tallying 900 million global on-demand streams and counting.

Porter tied Shania Twain as the only other Canadian female in history to land three back-to-back #1 singles at Canadian country radio with “About You,” “These Days,” and latest “Seeing Other People.” Twain set the now-tied record in 1998.

She is also the first country female artist in this century to have six #1 singles in Canada and earned 22 CCMA nominations, including Entertainer of the Year.

On April 26, MacKenzie Porter released her highly anticipated 19-track debut album, Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart! The album culminates six years of writing and has a mix of country-pop and confessional singer/songwriter country sounds to it.

“I wanted the album to have more moments of honesty and vulnerability that might not be a radio singles but could tell a bigger story and speak to people,” she said.

Porter recently wrapped up her first headlining Canadian tour, which was such a fun and cool experience for her to test out some of these new songs on the album for fans and see their reactions.

MacKenzie recently had her musical debut on The Kelly Clarkson Show performing a song on her new album, “Pay Me Back In Change.”

You can also catch MacKenzie cohosting the 2024 CCMA Awards with Thomas Rhett.

“Thomas is hilarious and super sweet and I think we will be able to feed off of each other and put on a great show,” she said.

Make sure to listen to “Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart” and stay up-to-date on upcoming shows from MacKenzie Porter!

Nice Horse is a country music duo from Calgary, Alberta with members, Katie Rox and Brandi Sidoryk.

Brandi and Katie have been musical allies for the past 15 years supporting each other’s careers but started writing songs together and Nice Horse took off from there.

Their debut album Nice Horse is out now with seven tracks. The duo describe the album as a labour of love, which they wrote over a hundred songs for and put years of work into.

“We’re so proud to release our debut album as a duo. While we have been in the industry for many years we feel like we’ve finally written songs that speak to deeper parts of us as songwriters and performers and we can’t wait to see how fans react to this side of Nice Horse,” shared Brandi and Katie.

Since they had so many songs to choose from when putting the album together, they got to choose songs that really meant something to them.

The duo is hitting the road next month and are looking forward to performing these new songs. Fans can catch Nice Horse at Heartstrings & Honkytonks, Rodéo Ayer’s Cliff, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, and Quonset Days, with more show announcements to come! In August Nice Horse will fulfill a long-time dream when they step out on stage in support of Jo Dee Messina in Regina, SK. 

Check out Nice Horse’s tour dates and music here https://www.nicehorsemusic.com/!

Canadian country music group Petric composed of brothers, Jason Petric and Tom Petric and long-time friend Jordan Day, release their highly anticipated self-titled EP!

Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, the band has accumulated over 15 million worldwide online streams, 12 charting singles, and 3 top 20 hits. 

They started recording the tracks on this EP a while back when they flew their producer into Winnipeg and recorded at the No Fun Club recording studio, which was an incredible experience for them!

“It’s been a long time coming to put out new music. We’ve done quite a few singles over the last few years but we wanted to put something out thats more in depth with a few more songs to it,” said Jason Petric.

The EP was released on Monday, April 15 and has already been very well received from fans. The band is looking forward to adding these songs to their setlist for upcoming shows.

A standout for Petric on the EP is their cover of “The Best” originally by Tina Turner. They put their own country/rock twist on it.

“Country music is known for songwriters and artists working together to create a finished product to put a fresh touch on a tune that everyone loves and we thought we’d give it a try,” said Jason Petric.

“The Best” hits Canadian country radio in about a week and has already Australian country radio as well!

The band is gearing up for festival season coming up and are eager to play these new songs. They will be hitting the stage at Country On The Bay in Thunder Bay, and Shake the Lake festival in Kenora, Ontario, which is run by Jason Petric himself!

Listen to Petric’s new self-titled EP now!

Rising star, Berlyn is making waves in the Canadian country music scene as the 2023 Country Music Alberta “Youth Horizon Award” winner! 

Berlyn is from Slave Lake, Alberta and started with music lessons at a young age. She started performing for crowds and writing music early on in life, which gave her an early start into her music journey.

Berlyn recently released her new song “Save Us” which is about being cheated on in a relationship and wanting to go back but you know its not good for you. The song can mean different things to different people if you really listen to the lyrics.

Berlyn was pitched “Save Us” and when deciding if a song is meant for her to record, it needs to relate to her and have a fun groove to it.

Berlyn is working towards her new single “You and Me” which will be coming out in the next two months!

She is very busy constantly working on new single releases, including a song written completely on her own, which she will also be releasing this year.

She is getting ready for a very busy summer with many shows and festivals to showcase her new music.

A goal for Berlyn is to hopefully soon be worldwide, travel, and be able to have music be a full time career!

Make sure to listen to “Save Us” and stay up-to-date on her new music releases and upcoming shows!

Fox Worthee is known for their effortless harmonies and willingness to push the boundaries of country music. They were recently awarded the Fan’s Choice Award at the 2024 CMAB Awards!

Nicole Perkins and Crystal Smith started their music career singing the National Anthem for the Regina Pats. They both decided to enter a karaoke contest and placed second and third, which sparked the fire to start the band Fox Worthee.

Fox Worthee have been a duo for twenty years now and have always stayed true to their country roots with their songwriting and sound.

“It’s been a long haul but a good haul,” said Crystal.

The duo recently released their first single of the year “This Ain’t My First Rodeo,” which is a fun, upbeat country song.

“It was one of those songs that just came together and we knew it was going to be great,” they said.

Fox Worthee is getting ready for a busy time coming up with lot’s of shows.

“Being this busy is a great problem to have, we are very excited!”

Visit https://foxxworthee.com/events/ for a full list of Fox Worthee’s upcoming shows and make sure to listen to “This Ain’t My First Rodeo!”

Sykamore is a country music singer/songwriter from Calgary, Alberta, who started singing in school and church from a young age, which helped her realize her passion for music early on. Later on in her teens she decided to professionally pursue songwriting and it eventually brought her to Nashville where she lives now.

Sykamore has always been a fan of Taylor Swift and her ability to write songs with such rage and passion.

“It’s a quality I’ve always been inspired by,” she said. From the country world, her tastes have been shaped by The Chicks, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain and Dolly Parton. 

In 2022, Sykamore released her debut album Pinto. The album was originally slated to be released in 2020, but the pandemic caused it to be put on hold until 2022.

“I was worried at certain points that it may never see the light of day – so to see it placed in the hands of the people and witness the reaction they’ve had to the songs really warms my heart,” she said.

Her biggest goal when writing an album is to give people a journey to go on when listening.

On March 29, 2024 Sykamore released her new EP Through The Static with four new songs.

She has been working on the project to follow up Pinto for a few years, and this four song EP was cooked up as a way to give her audience something small while she gets the rest of the songs finished up to complete a larger work of music.

“My goal is to include these four songs on a bigger body of work possibly later this year! I’d say it’s different from my debut in that Pinto was quite concept driven – I wrote the title track very early on and the rest of the songs sort of followed that lightning rod of inspiration, she explained”

In the case of this EP, Sykamore wrote the songs a little more ‘case by case’ and saw how they related to each other once they were all finished. She found common threads amongst the tracks, but it was a process that happened almost in reverse of how Pinto was created.

“Writing music always happens in a very unique way!”

A song on the EP that stands out to her is “Highway Towns.”

“Highway Towns” is my favourite at the moment, I think because it reminds me of home,” she said. The song is very nostalgic for her to think about growing up in Alberta and becoming well versed in all of the little towns you pass through to get to your destination.

Make sure to follow Sykamore to stay up-to-date on new music and show dates and listen to “Through The Static.”

Twitter: @SykamoreMusic 
Facebook: @sykamoremusic
Instagram: @sykamore
Website: www.sykamoremusic.com  

Quinton Blair is Country’s Local and Manitoba Country Music Association’s Featured Artist of the Month!

Quinton Blair is an 8x Manitoba Country Music Association Award winner who is a genuine country music singer/songwriter to the core.

Quinton just returned from an incredible experience performing with many other Canadians at the Caribbean Goes Country festival in Cuba.

The festival was an amazing seven days of country music on the beach with incredible people. It was also a social organization where donations were made an money was collected to help out hospitals and kids in need in Cuba.

The artists were able to go through the towns and see the communities they were able to help.

Quinton will be back at the festival in 2025 alongside The Road Hammers and Aaron Prichett. Tickets are available HERE for Caribbean Goes Country 2025!

At the beginning of March Quinton released his new single “Someday Sunday” that he wrote with Jason McCoy from The Road Hammers.

When they were in the session Quinton brought up the idea of not wanting to waste sunsets and miss opportunities or those small moments and memories that fill a space in your heart.

“Someday Sunday” is about letting time slip by and seizing the moment.

“It has been incredible to see the responses from people and how they relate and the song helps them,” he said. The essence of the song is recognizing those around you and making sure you are present in that moment.

Through the process of this song Quinton has been able to evaluate what he wants to do and who he wants to make memories with in his personal life.

Quinton and his band love performing live and making connections and memories with people at shows and they want to continue doing that for as long as possible.

Quinton has been working on new music and is planning more releases in the coming months!

Him and his band are busy with shows and festivals this summer including Dauphin’s Countryfest with Clint Black and Diamond Rio.

Although it is a busy summer for Quinton and his band he is making sure to allow himself some time off and even catch some sunsets in new locations in the spirit of the song “Someday Sunday.”

Make sure to check out “Someday Sunday” and stay up-to-date with upcoming shows from Quinton and his band!