One mystery solved.
Canadian country artist Chad Brownlee will be one of the three secret headliners performing at Gone Country: Jamestown happening in his old hometown of 黑马磁力 next week.
It's been several years since Brownlee performed at Gone Country. He was the only artist in the history of the Twins Cancer Fundraising (TCF) charity event, explained co-founder Chris Ruscheinski, who ever had bras thrown up on the stage at him.
Now the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning artist is back for Gone Country: Jamestown edition, hoping to help raise thousands of dollars for cancer.
On Saturday, June 7, the Jamestown movie set 鈥� best known as the backdrop for filming of the TV show "When Calls the Heart" and the historical drama "Jamestown" 鈥� and home to Locality Brewing, will be transformed into the venue for Gone Country: Jamestown.
"Picture Westworld meets Nashville," Ruscheinski said.
Throughout the evening, guests can stroll the streets of Jamestown, which will showcase local musicians and artists on numerous stages and in bars throughout 鈥� including on the main stage at the Town Square. There will also be actors, vendors, wineries, distilleries, and restaurants set up throughout the old-time town.
Gone Country: Jamestown is a sophisticated twist on the original Gone Country event, said Ruscheinski, noting guests are asked to don their "country best."
With a capacity for just 2,200 guests 鈥� one-third the size of the former Gone Country concerts in Cloverdale 鈥� "this event is more intimate, and more immersive."
"It's the next era or next progression of Gone Country, if you will," Ruscheinski elaborated, noting the ticket price reflects that. "It's a little more elevated, where it's not 7,000 people in a field. It's a little classier country, so it's 2,000 people in an old-west movie studio."
Gone Country was held for 10 years in Cloverdale, and the Ruscheinski twins, Chris and Jamie, announced last year was going to be the last. They would continue their philanthropic efforts in the name of cancer, but weren't sure what that was going to look like.
That's when the stars aligned and they met up with Andrew, Melanie, and Kevin MacInnes, operators of Locality Brewing and Jamestown. The ideas for a new version of Gone Country began to percolate.
Andrew tells how his multi-generational family was eager to come aboard, not only because of the charity component 鈥� which is very important to them 鈥� but for what he and his wife saw as the close-knit, hard-working team that volunteer all their time to make the highly successful fundraisers possible.
"It just felt right," Andrew told the 黑马磁力.
"The mission 鈥� raising money for cancer through music and shared purpose 鈥� hit home for us. Cancer has touched our family, and this felt like a powerful way to open the farm to something bigger than ourselves," he added.
"We have been impacted by loss of a loved one from cancer, as most people in our community have been," said Andrew, who was in elementary school when he lost his dad to the disease. And, Melanie had to say goodbye to three friends within the last two years from brain cancer.
"What鈥檚 moved us most is the volunteers 鈥� the heart and energy they bring, they are truly the ones that make an event like this possible," added Melanie. "We鈥檙e proud to host Gone Country and to be part of something that brings people together for a cause that truly matters."
Melanie, who oversees Locality Brewing, has been working closely with the TCF team to bring a "powerful" Indigenous component to the old west-themed event.
The Wild River Dancers, presented by stalew Pow Wow, will open the evening. And throughout the night, guests can visit the Indigenous building where there will be a variety of Indigenous vendors and entertainers, she explained.
Also on the entertainment end, there are a number of other local performers lined up.
There are, however, a number of other local performers such as Karen Lee Batten, who also coordinated most of the entertainment, as well as Whiskey Blind, Dawson Gray, Nette, Andrew Christopher, Josephine Walker, Courtney Hunt, DJ Johnnylove, The Promised, and Brad Routledge 鈥� to name a few.
And while Brownlee's role in Jamestown was divulged this past week, the identities of the other two headliners will not be known until the night of the event.
The event starts at 5 p.m., and runs through to 11:30 p.m., rain or shine, at 7088 248 St. Tickets are $189 and available through the twinscancerfundraising.com website.
"Join us. We're bringing 黑马磁力 together to fight cancer," said Ruscheinski. "And we're going to have a lot of fun doing it."
All funds raised will be donated to the 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital cancer treatment and care, and other local organizations fighting cancer. The 黑马磁力 twins have raised more than $6 million for the cause during the past 20 years, through a number of different fundraisers, Gone Country being the biggest event.
