Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE May 1, 2018
Musical entertainment for this year’s Shawville Fair was announced on May 1, with a more contemporary band filling up Friday’s rock night slot than previous years.
While the traditional mix of popular, chart-topping acts mingle with favourite local talents, the 2018 Shawville Fair will see The Trews rocking the stage on the Friday, in place of the typical, classic rock band.
“Friday night’s been our rock night for many years now,” said Tyler McCann, entertainment coordinator. “It has been our classic rock night, but we’ve had most of the big names in Canadian classic rock. Rather than bringing back some of the same groups over again, we thought we would look a little broader and bring in a group that will play similar rock music.”

The Trews are a contemporary Canadian rock band hailing from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, who saw their first big hit, “Hold Me in Your Arms” chart on the Canadian Hot 100 Billboard chart in 2007. The four-piece has seen numerous line-up changes over the years, been nominated for five Juno Awards and won Best Hard Rock Song at the Independent Music Awards for the previously mentioned song in 2008.
McCann and the rest of the organizing committee are feeling confident this band will still be a big draw for the rock night.
“Hopefully we’ll appeal to the same people that would have come last year and the years before but may also bring a new, younger generation in,” continued McCann.
Rounding out the Friday entertainment is the Pontiac’s own rockers.
“We’ve got a great local band, Beyond Driven, opening up for them and a good bunch of younger locals starting off the night on Friday,” said McCann. “It should be a great night all around.”
Saturday’s headliner sees Bowmanville, Ont.’s Meghan Patrick fill the headlining slot.
“She’s really taken off and had a couple of big singles out there,” said McCann. “She’s done really well and been nominated for a bunch of CCMA’s over the last couple of years and toured with a couple of big acts.”
Relatively new to the scene, Patrick won the Rising Star Award and Female Artist of the Year at the 2017 Canadian Country Music Association Awards. As well, she just released a new album, Country Music Made Me Do It, in mid-January.
“I think we’ll hear a lot of her over the summer, too,” continued McCann. “It’s always nice when you get people who have new material that’s come out. It means they’ll be on the radio more often and that people will hear them in the lead-up to the fair.”
Rounding out the Saturday entertainment is Chris McCann, Rainwater Whiskey and Brea Lawrenson.
Sunday’s big act will see Alberta’s High Valley headline, joined by the likes of The Riley New Band, Robin Averill & Joe Turner, Next Generation Leahy, as well as Fort Coulonge’s Phil Denault.
“Anybody that listens to country music radio will know who High Valley is,” said Tyler. “They’re past the up and coming stage now and have had some big records on country music radio.”
High Valley has been nominated for two Junos in the Country Album of the Year category, and has won three Canadian Country Music Association Awards, most recently for Group or Duo of the Year in 2016. Their song “I Be U Be” peaked at the number one spot on the Canadian Country Billboard chart, and “She’s With Me” climbed to 79th on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
As well, the booking of this band was something that the entertainment crew had been working towards for some time.
“We’ve looked at them a couple times over the years and things worked out well this year to be able to bring them to the fair,” said Tyler.
He explained that planning for the next year’s entertainment often begins in the middle of an active Shawville Fair, as organizers seek out opinions on what crowds would like to see.
“The conversation on what to book the next year starts the year before, so we’re always talking to people that are at the fair, asking them who they’d like to see and who they’d like to hear,” said Tyler.
As well, they often keep an eye on who has new releases coming up, as well as who’s gaining in popularity.
“We look at who’s doing well on the country music charts, or who we expect to do well,” he explained. “Sometimes it’s a bit of a guessing game but if we know that somebody’s got a new album coming out that’s always a great sign.”
Plus, they take great consideration from folks who have seen acts they’re considering, looking to find great performers over those who simply succeed on the music charts.
“You get lots of people that have been around and seen these bands perform live,” said Tyler. “So, you want to get [performers] that you know are going to put on a good show.”
From there, the committee will consider their options and see who’s available, looking to scoop up their ideal line-up before other fairs book them up.
“We do try and move early because there are a lot of fairs in the area that try to book these bands too,” he explained. “I know that this year, for example, there were a couple other fairs that were looking at bands that we had already booked, but because we got them first, they couldn’t have them. It’s nice to be on the right end of that situation.”