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Dave and I had the pleasure of being invited to the 1st Annual Backroads Country Jamboree in Durham, ON last weekend.  This event was presented by Bonnie McDougall & Ken Newman, joint owners of the Backroads Bar & Grill, and Carolyn Crandall, the Promotional Manager.  The event was a benefit concert, with all proceeds going to The Make-A-Wish Foundation (SWO).  

The crowd wasn't that great but if it were compared to Havelock's first year, it wasn't that bad.  Havelock had more than 20,000 people attending this year.  I do hope that this event will continue to be an annual event.  It would be a welcome addition to our area.  Backroads was one of the best organized events I have attended this year.  Everything was top-notch and all I heard all weekend was praise for all people concerned!

Instead of making all of my thank you's at the end of this review, I'd like to do this at the beginning!  We had a wonderful time and I must say that ALL the people concerned were wonderful to us.  Bonnie & Carolyn.....count on us anytime you need help.  You made us feel like family!  Pat & Megan Morrison.....hang in there....Megan's definitely going to set the world on fire!  To all the staff and security.....THANK YOU!  You were super!  Also a BIG thank you to Mike Finn, for inviting us to stay at his trailer for the weekend.  We had a GREAT time, Mike!  You're a super cook, too!  Sorry ladies.....Mike's wife, Shirley, says he's a keeper.

The artists who were chosen for Backroads were absolutely super.  Most were local artists, with the exception of Julian Austin, who makes his home in Calgary, AB, and Amanda Stott, who comes from Manitoba.  I'm very proud that we have such a wonderful group of artists in our area.  

We got to Backroads about noon on Friday, a nice sunny day.  After we said our hello's and got acquainted with Carolyn, we took a walk around the grounds and through the bar.  Since it is quite a way outside of Durham, we were very surprised to find a huge building with a games room, pool tables, a buffet room, a stage and dance floor, and a mechanical bull!  The grounds were beautiful with a big open field for camping, a stage area, with a few food & clothing concessions, and the beer tent.  There were Port-a-Potties everywhere but very few garbage pails.  I found out later that the Scouts would be gathering the garbage every day.  Considering there were no pails, there was very little garbage to be found on the ground over the weekend.  A job well done!  Thank you guys!

I'm going to insert one photo with each act and then give you more photos at the end of the review.

(Please click on the photos to view a full picture)

We made our way to the stage about 2:30, where Outskirts was just beginning their set.  Outskirts is a five-piece band who is well known in the Grey-Bruce area.  They gave us a mix of country and rock  in a very high energy show. 

At 4pm, came Northern Grass, a very talented group of five musicians.  This bluegrass band, which was formed in 1996, kept the audience on the edge right through their show.

Last but not lest for the day was Julian Austin.  He put on a stellar show, as always.  I just love his single from "Back In Your Life" called "Forever Loving You".  It's a beautiful song and Julian does it so well!
 It was Julian's birthday the day before, and Backroads gave Julian a big birthday cake onstage.  Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Julian and we even got to have cake afterwards!  Yummy!