We flipped for the Country Thunder Calgary Saturday Show

Saturday brought the heat – weather-wise and with full day of non-stop music on 2 stages!

 

As winners of the Country 105 radio station’s Rising Star competion, Greg Albright and the NotSoBrites opened up the mainstage to kick things off Saturday with a mix of covers and original music such as “Third Time’s a Charm” and “Heatwave”

 

 

Shawn Austin got to perform made his debut on the Country Thunder Calgary mainstage.  Just two years ago, the Vancouver native recalls sitting up on the hill to watch Dallas Smith perform on the same stage he was now standing on.  The two are heavily intertwined in the music world … Shawn will be back in town in a few short weeks because he’s also a CCMA nominee for  – which Dallas Smith is co-hosting with Billy Ray Cyrus … and Shawn is signed to Dallas’ label, SteelHead Music.

Known for his interaction with the crowd, posing for selfies, and signing autographs, and giving high 5s, when Shawn noticed that a fan in the crowd made a sign that said “Paradise Found @ Country Thunder”, he “borrowed” the sign to hold up and before singing his debut single “Paradise Found”.

 

Hunter Brothers always put on a high energy and extensively choreographed show while making as much of an effort as possible to interact with the audience. They were always smiling and have amazing harmonies. They shared some interesting trivia in that while they have no sisters, it’s just the 5 brothers, when they started having kids, all of their first born were girls.  With 4 of the married married, they already have 10 children between them with the newest one born just 3 weeks ago. They ended their set with a traditional backflip, literally on the back by Luke and Brock on the cat walk.

 

Louisiana boy Jordan Davis rocked the Country Thunder stage this weekend. The band had great synergy within each other and was very high energy. A lot of crowd reaction which pumped up the fans more and more through out there set.  For a fairly newer artist, he has a very seasoned stage presence and appears to have been playing big shows his whole life.  He definitely belongs on the stage with his captivating country voice and great that kept the crowd wanting more.   

 

Lauren Alaina

The runner-up from American Idol on season 10, Georgia born singer Lauren Alaina wrote “Georgia Peaches” about where she’s from and grew up.

There were a lot of other interesting trivia bits she included in between songs from some more serious topics such as … “Doing Fine” was inspired by her “crazy family” and her dad’s sobriety …  Her first #1 “Road Less Travelled” is about overcoming her eating disorder and the bullies and mean people on social media.  It’s a song about never giving up on your self and to keep trying.

… to the more entertaining trivia such as … having gone to middle school with Kane Brown and his asking her if she would sing with on a song, “What Ifs” … that just happened to become his first #1 song.

The power of the signs was strong this weekend … there was a guy in the crowd with a sign that said “I’m Available” that she invited up on stage with her for her song “Next Boyfriend”. The guy said he made the sign because he saw her in Vegas and he is Vegas Strong.

 

 

Jake Owen must have been getting his entire crew to do a weather dance Saturday because the weather had completed shifted from Friday night … which is a blessing in his case because he always comes out on stage barefoot.  I think it’s safe to say we’ll not likely see him on stage during a Grey Cup Festival anytime soon as a result!

He took the stage wearing a shiny silver jean-styled jacket that seems to have been coordinated with his stage decorations.  The jacket came off and the guitar was put down after the first song and that when the light show really kicked in with his moving around onto elevated platforms and down the catwalk.