His dream to be a host on a country radio station since childhood, Connor takes that to the next level with his playlists. Connor was just just promoted to Station Manage in May 2020, he takes the role over from Luke Mason. Connor hosts The Drive At Five and Evening With Connor! If you are a new artist looking for exposure, please send your demos to me!!! Im looking forward to hearing from you!!
CONTACT: Connor Willson
Country Thunder 2024 rolls into Craven
Date: Jul 10, 2024 Posted By: Connor Willson
A trail of campers, RVs and trailers made their way to Craven on Wednesday, in preparation for the four day non-stop celebration that is Country Thunder Saskatchewan.
The country music festival returns once again to the valley – this year celebrating its one millionth fan.
Whomever happens to be the lucky attendee will be awarded with two platinum experience passes and artist hospitality access for life – along with other prizes.
“I mean the people that have been here before know that this is something really hard to explain unless you’ve actually experienced it but we’ve got all the music Friday, Saturday, Sunday on our main stage,” Digital Manager Megan Benoit told CTV News.
“We’ve also got our beer gardens and our songwriter stage so really entertainment for everyone on all three of those stages.”
Synonymous with the festival is the high temperatures predicted for the weekend.
The festival’s medical team shared some advice for those spending their weekend in the valley.
“Find some shade. Keep yourself hydrated. Make sure that you’re eating properly, because your body is going to burn the fuel a lot faster than this heat,” Health and Safety Manager Belinda Mitchell explained.
“Make sure you’re wearing a hat, sunglasses. Make sure you get those fluids in you to go with the alcohol.”
For many attendees, it is far from their first rodeo.
That’s the case for Jim Monaghan. He’s attended the past 14 Country Thunder Saskatchewan festivals – and has the wristbands to prove it.
He shared some tips he’s picked up over the years.
“Buy a good generator, bring lots of gas, bring lots of drinks, some refreshments, and make sure the power is working for the heat,” he said. “Friends of ours bring a foot pool. At minimum throw some ice in there, leave your feet in there.”
Festivities begin on Thursday, with Dallas Smith headlining on Friday night, followed by Nickelback on Saturday. Luke Combs will close out the weekend Sunday night.
TOBY KEITH DIES OF CANCER AT 62 YEARS OLD
Date: Feb 06, 2024 Posted By: Connor Willson
Country music lost a cowboy, Oklahoma lost a treasured son and the U.S. military lost an ardent friend Monday when Toby Keith succumbed to an extended battle with stomach cancer. He was 62 years old.
Toby Keith passed peacefully last night ... surrounded by his family, a statement shared to his website read. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.
Keith revealed in June of 2022 that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in the Fall of 2021 and had already undergone chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. He performed his last three concerts at Park MGMs Dolby Live in Las Vegas in December but was forced to cancel an event with CMT in January.
The Shouldve Been a Cowboy singer was born Toby Keith Covel on July 8, 1961. He broke into country music with Shouldve Been a Cowboy in 1993, and the song became his first of 20 No. 1 hits. His other chart-toppers include How Do You Like Me Now?!, As Good As I Once Was, My List and his Willie Nelson duet Beer for My Horses. But some of his biggest hits – including Red Solo Cup – never went No. 1.
Keith was known for his passionate support of the U.S. military and made frequent trips to war zones to play for the troops. Post 9/11, he released his defiant, fist-pumping Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, which also became a No. 1 hit.
Keith described himself to CNN as a third-generation Democrat but maintained there was nothing political about supporting the troops.
President Trump awarded Keith the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government, in 2021.
The 64 singers other honors include two CMA Awards and 12 ACM Awards, including ACM Entertainer of the Year in 2003 and 2004 and special ACM Awards, including the Tex Ritter Film Award (2009), Career Achievement Award (2014), Poets Award (2017) and Merle Haggard Spirit Award (2021). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021. Throughout his career, Keith was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, and BMI honored him in 2022 with its prestigious Icon Award.
He performed at the 2023 Peoples Choice Country Awards in September and went viral with his Dont Let The Old Man In. Clint Eastwood inspired Keith to write the song in 2018, and it was featured in Eastwoods movie The Mule. Keith told The Tennessean then that writing it is one of my favorite things I ever did in my life.
2023 marked Keiths 30th year in country music – but worked toward country music success much longer than that.
Country Aircheck reported Keith received his first guitar when he was 8 years old. As he got older, the singer occasionally worked at his grandmothers Billie Garners Supper Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he occasionally performed. He worked in the oil fields when he graduated high school and formed his Easy Money Band when he was 20. In the early 80s, Keith played semi-professional football for the Oklahoma City Drillers, and by the mid-80s, his band was popular on the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Famed producer Harold Shedd heard about Keith and signed him to Mercury Records. His debut album produced four chart-toppers, including Shouldve Been a Cowboy. He hopped among record labels for years before founding Show Dog Nashville in 2005. In 2009, Show Dog merged with Universal South but went independent again six years later.
Keith was known as a philanthropist. In addition to his work with the military, he headed up a benefit concert to aid his fellow Oklahomans who were devastated by a tornado in 2013 and used his Toby Keith Foundation to build and fund the OK Kids Korral, a no-cost home for children and their families battling cancer in Oklahoma.
When someone I know passes away, I usually think of two things: my own mortality and what I learned from this person, said Garth Brooks, a fellow Oklahoman who played Keiths 2013 benefit concert. What I learned from Toby is what I hope I am able to do when its my turn to wear those shoes. He was ALWAYS Toby...all the way up to his passing.
Keith opened a chain of Toby Keiths I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants and grew his business to include a clothing line and alcohol brands. In 2013, Forbes featured Keith on the cover with the caption, Country Musics $500 Million Man.
Another of Keiths fellow Oklahomans, Carrie Underwood wrote: Saddle up the horses, Jesus, cause a true blue COWBOY just made his ride up to heaven!!! Introduce him to all the Okies and sign that boy up for the choir! Were gonna miss you, Toby, but my heart has no doubt that you are standing in the presence of our King right now!!! See you again someday, friend.
Keith is survived by his wife, Tricia, three children, Shelley, Krystal, and Stelen, his mother, and two siblings.
CHRIS STAPLETON REVEALS 2024 TOUR DATES ON “ALL-AMERICAN ROAD SHOW”
Date: Oct 26, 2023 Posted By: Connor Willson
Is Chris Stapleton coming to your city in 2024?
Stapleton fans got the answer to that question Thursday morning when the singer revealed 2024 dates on his “All-American Road Show” tour, which will launch in San Diego, California, in March.
Tickets for many 2024 dates will go on sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. local time.
Support acts on Stapleton’s 2024 include Charley Crockett, Nikki Lane, Turnpike Troubadours, Elle King, The War and Treaty, Allen Stone, Lainey Wilson, Marcus King, Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart, Willie Nelson and Grace Potter.
But before he hits the road in 2024, Stapleton will release his highly anticipated new album, “Higher,” on Nov. 10. Stapleton co-produced “Higher” will his wife Morgane Stapleton and longtime collaborator Dave Cobb at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. The 14-song album includes his recent single release “White Horse.”
Stapleton cowrote “White Horse” Dan Wilson. Lyrics include: If you want a cowboy on a white horse| Riding off into the sunset| If thats the kind of love you wanna wait for| Hold on tight, girl, I aint there yet.
March 2, 2024—San Diego, CA—Petco Park‡
April 3, 2024—Winnipeg, MB—Canada Life Centre+
April 4, 2024—Grand Forks, ND—Alerus Center+
April 6, 2024—Minneapolis, MN—U.S. Bank Stadium^
May 9, 2024—West Palm Beach, FL—iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre~
May 22, 2024—Rapid City, SD—The Monument**
May 31, 2024—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center**
June 6, 2024—Philadelphia, PA—Freedom Mortgage Pavilion††
June 7, 2024—Bristol, VA—Jiffy Lube Live††
June 12, 2024—Kansas City, MO—T-Mobile Center‡‡
June 26, 2024—Los Angeles, CA—Hollywood Bowl++
July 11, 2024—Darien Center, NY— Darien Lake Amphitheater††
July 12, 2024—Pittsburgh, PA—The Pavilion at Star Lake††
July 18, 2024—Toledo, OH—Huntington Center††
July 19, 2024—Columbus, OH—Schottenstein Center††
July 25, 2024—Nampa, ID—Ford Idaho Center Arena^^
July 26, 2024—Portland, OR—RV Inn Styles Resort Amphitheater^^
July 27, 2024—Seattle, WA—T-Mobile Park##
August 1, 2024—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion++
August 2, 2024—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion++
August 9, 2024—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena~~
August 21, 2024—Birmingham, AL—The Legacy Arena at the BJCC++
August 22, 2024—Little Rock, AR—Simmons Bank Arena++
*with special guests Charley Crockett and Nikki Lane
†with special guest Nikki Lane
‡with special guests Turnpike Troubadours and Elle King
+with special guests The War and Treaty and Allen Stone
^with special guests Lainey Wilson and Marcus King
#George Strait and special guest Little Big Town
~with special guests Grace Potter and Nikki Lane
**with special guests Marcus King and The War and Treaty
††with special guests Marcus King and Nikki Lane
‡‡with special guests Marcus King and Allen Stone
++with special guests Grace Potter and Allen Stone
^^with special guests Nikki Lane and Allen Stone
##with special guests Willie Nelson and Family and Sheryl Crow
~~with special guests Marty Stuart and Nikki Lane
The Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo Kicks Off Tonight
Date: Jul 21, 2023 Posted By: Connor Willson
The Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo Kicks Off Tonight With All Roads Lead Home Free Concert! Eli Barsi, Heidi Munro & Scott, Patrick, Lane Easton, And Blake Berglund! Beer Gardens are open from 5 pm to Midnight with the concert starting at 8 pm! Looking forward to seeing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of all 4 entertainers on stage in one night!!
The rodeo parade starts at 1 pm on Saturday followed by a Demolition Derby. Beer Gardens open at 2 pm with an Aerobatic Pilot Performance by Luke Penner! Day One of the rodeo performance starts at 5 pm! Performance by Switch following the rodeo performance with the beer gardens open till 2am.
Sunday starts with a Pancake Breakfast at 9 at the Kennedy Friendship Centre. At 11 am the Cowboy Church Service at the Rodeo Grounds. The beer gardens open at 1 pm with another Aerobatic Pilot Performance by Luke Penner! Day two of the rodeo performance starts at 2 pm! Following the rodeo performance is the Demolition Derby!
Yellowstone to end in November, sequel starts in December
Date: May 06, 2023 Posted By: Connor Willson
The popular television western Yellowstone with Kevin Costner will end this fall and be replaced almost immediately by a sequel. But like any good drama, theres some mystery involved.
The sequel, still untitled, will premiere December on the Paramount cable network, which also televises Yellowstone, Paramount said on Friday.
Behind Costner, who plays Montana rancher John Dutton, series creator Taylor Sheridan launched a phenomenon. The opening of its fifth season last November was seen by 12.1 million viewers on the night of its debut, more people than any other scripted series last fall -- a remarkable feat for a show not on a broadcast network.
Weve been able to create a show that didnt start out being popular but did it on its own terms, Costner told The Associated Press last fall.
Yellowstone will wrap up with new episodes airing in November; how many was not announced on Friday. Those episodes havent been filmed yet, and its not clear whether Costner will participate following reports that he may want out of the series.
Paramount would not comment on that Friday, with a spokesperson saying only, Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope thats the case for a long time to come.
David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, which produces Yellowstone with MTV Entertainment, said the new series will be picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale. While the series hasnt been named, the word Yellowstone will be part of the title -- an important distinction because that wasnt the case for spinoffs like 1883 or 1923.
Paramount has denied published reports that actor Matthew McConaughey is signed to star in the sequel. But a spokesperson said Friday that McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom wed love to partner.
Following its debut on the cable network, the sequel will also air on the Paramount+ streaming network.
Thats a hugely important distinction for the company. Yellowstone streams on NBC Universals Peacock service, owned by Comcast, meaning a big chunk of revenue created by the popular drama has been going elsewhere.
