On the opening night of Boots and Hearts, there’s a good chance virtually no one on the grounds was familiar with the first 80 minutes of music they heard.
Each year, Canada’s largest country music festival, which is held at Burl's Creek Event Grounds just north of Barrie, begins its programming with an eye to the future, giving eight artists the chance to change their futures and become the next winners of the Emerging Artist Showcase.
Perhaps the one consistent facet of the music festival since its inception in 2012, the Emerging Artist Showcase has launched the careers of winners Tebey, Josh Ross and Owen Riegling, as well as other participants, such as Tim Hicks.
Last year, Shantaia joined their ranks.
“It’s one of those competitions that’s been around for a very long time, very respected in the industry,” she recalled before her set on the Front Porch Stage on Thursday night. “It’s just one of those big ones that everybody wants to get into.”
Hailing from Saskatchewan and born Shantaia Poulin, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter has been winning these kinds of competitions since she was a teenager. It can be a harrowing experience for even road-weary acts.
“You have to make a submission to the Boots and Hearts committee and then you get a phone call that you’re in the semi-finals,” she said. “You go and get your set ready, get a band together, you show up and you play three songs. You get three songs, that’s it.”
More than 400 applicants were in the running for the Emerging Artist Showcase this year, a field whittled down to eight. Each got 10 minutes to wow the judges —Republic Live owner Stan Dunford, Amanda Kingsland from Universal Music Canada and musician Tyler Joe Miller — in the hopes of being one of two to play the finals on the main stage Sunday afternoon.
This year’s winner will receive a contract with Universal to release a single, a return engagement on the Front Porch Stage in 2025 and management with RLive, the management and artist development arm of Republic Live, founded earlier this year.
“It’s about building that relationship and giving them a moment to have that fan experience,” said Brooke Dunford, director of booking and business development for Republic Live, the promoter that has put on Boots and Hearts over the past 12 years and purchased Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in 2014.
“We want to give back to the country music community and develop artists,” she said. “We have a management business now, so the winner will work with us, and we will carry them through the industry and really make sure that we can build their fan base and hopefully one day they can be on the main stage.”
Shantaia grabbed that brass ring last year. She brought her best, performing her current single Damaged Goods and her first Top 40 hit Broach Brand New, while covering Ironic from Alanis Morissette.
She called the time between hearing her name announced on the main stage last year to now a “whirlwind,” working with her label to make sure the best song possible was released as a single.
She feels she found that in What I Wouldn’t Do.
“This song is definitely a departure for me,” she said. “My previous music has been very pop-country-mainstream, and this song is a lot more soulful, edgy. A little different.”
She co-wrote the song with long-time collaborator Ryan Sorestad and Curt Chambers, who has worked with the likes of Dr. Dre, Eminem and Alicia Keys. While that might not be the kind of pedigree found on a major-label country single, it worked for Shantaia.
“When I was telling Amanda (Kingsland) this was the sound I was going for, we wrote two songs that were kind of both sides: a little bit happier and then a little southern rock country,” she recalled. “And then she was like we need a song that kind of marries the two. So, we wrote What I Wouldn’t Do, and she was like, that was it, that’s the one.”
Kingsland was right. The song was a highlight of Shantaia’s set Thursday night, but you would be forgiven if you thought she had relocated to Memphis instead of Nashville when she moved to the United States to further her career.
The move came with a lot of curveballs, she said, but was “one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
“I’ve always been somebody who gets inspired by other people: if you’re better than me and you’ve honed your craft for longer, I want to learn from you,” she said. “There’s no competitiveness there. I’m really taking it all in and been very inspired and very excited to learn and hone my craft in that town.”
It’s a level-headed mindset that’s allowed her to mature as an artist while looking to further her career. But as she returned to the Front Porch Stage Thursday, she was doing so as a young woman who had already experienced a series of highs and lows over the past 10-plus years of performing.
She knew what those eight musicians competing in the Emerging Artist Showcase were feeling before they hit the stage, and she knew exactly what she would tell them.
“Just have fun with it and don’t be afraid to put out music you want to put out,” Shantaia said. “It always comes down to what’s your gut feeling. If you love the song and you love the sound, then do it. I wish I could tell myself that a few years ago.”
The Blue Ridge Band and Sarah Vanderzon were announced as the finalists for the Emerging Artist Showcase and will perform for the crown Sunday afternoon.
New country stalwarts Lonestar and festival favourites Midland closed the Front Porch Stage and the Kick-Off Party Thursday night.
Friday highlights include Jess Moskaluke, Brothers Osborne and headliner Cody Johnson.
