Weyburn's Tenille Arts has made it to the top 3 finalists in the running for this year's Next Big Thing competition.
Arts joins Amy Nelson from Regina and Blake Berglund from Kennedy, who will be performing live on Thursday, June 26 for the general public and a panel of national music industry jurists at 8 p.m. at Eldorado Country Rock Bar, Regina.
There will be joined by special guest, 2013 Next Big Thing winner Alex Runions.
In what is sure to be a very close competition, the most outstanding artist of the night will receive a grand prize package valued at over $15,000, along with the title of "Next Big Thing 2014." The winner will secure a mainstage performance spot at the 2014 Craven Country Jamboree and additional opportunities.
Arts grew up singing in Weyburn and is now poised to make her mark. At 20, she has won countless regional vocal competitions and performed at Craven Country Jamboree, Casino Regina and Telemiracle. She was a finalist on the Idol-style talent show, Karaoke Star Junior (CMT/YTV/Corus Entertainment) and represented Saskatchewan in Canada's National Talent Competition in 2009 in PEI. A discovery of her music on YouTube has led to a team of industry elite forming around her, and she is now writing songs for her first album, due for release this year. She can be found at www.tenillearts.com.
A confident country-rock songstress, Nelson is a force to be reckoned with and is often referred to as one of the hardest working independent artists in the Canadian country music scene. She released her debut album in 2008 and has been nominated for 18 SCMA awards, opened for many Canadian stars (George Canyon, Terri Clark, Aaron Pritchett, etc.) and performed at notable events including the Craven Country Jamboree, Calgary Stampede and many more. Amy's sophomore album (due for a June 20, 2014 release) was produced by award-winning Saskatchewan producer Bart McKay. Her summer is busy with numerous upcoming performances, and in September she will be heading out on a radio tour of western Canada to promote her upcoming single.
Raised in the Moose Mountains deep in Saskatchewan's south east corner, Berglund took his early childhood responsibilities of tending to 200 head of horses as the education needed to base the musician's career around hard work. These efforts have earned him slots supporting the likes of Corb Lund, Jim Cuddy, Jason McCoy, The Sheepdogs, among many others around his consistent 100+ date yearly national tour schedule. Berglund has showcased at the 2012 Breakout West Festival and Canadian Country Music Awards, in 2013 at Canadian Music Week and JunoFest and in 2014 at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City, MO. He won SCMA's 2013 Saskatchewan Roots Artist of the Year with his fresh style of country music.
This year's finalists were determined by a panel of music industry professionals.
Everyone is welcome to cheer on these talented artists! Admission is $10 at the door with a portion going to the Big Dog 92.7 Kid's Fund.
This year's champion will join the ranks of previous winners: WYATT (2009), ChrisHenderson (2010), Jess Moskaluke (2011), Myshel Pajuaar and The Midnight Roses (2012), and Alex Runions (2013).
Presented by Big Dog 92-7 / Bell Media. Produced by SaskMusic.
