With life in a very surreal state right now as the world deals with COVID-19 and we all do our best to stay safe, healthy, and protect the people around us, musicians have been stepping up in a big way online to entertain and distract us from some of the darker things in our lives. It's not ideal. It's not perfect. It's not how we hoped or planned the spring would go, but it's real - and Dan Davidson and the Diesel Bird Digital Music Festival are preparing for a big weekend of music on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29 that Canadian county fans (and more) can look forward to.
Originally slated as a one-day event, Diesel Bird has grown into a two-day show with about 40 acts set to perform, interviews scheduled, and if we had to make a guess, we'd say there will be a surprise or two as well.
Diesel Bird Digital Music Festival will be available exclusively (as of now) on Instagram Live (), with country, pop, and rock, all on the lineup. Frankly, it's inspiring to see the list of talent that has come together on this. Artists from all over Canada are in. Emerging artists and big, award-winning stars are together on the lineup. Big Sugar, Josh Ramsey (Mariana's Trench), Tyler Shaw, Ferraro, Wide Mouth Mason, and Adam Gontier (Saint Asonia) are all coming to a country music party to play, and that's very cool. The whole thing is very neat.
When the first announcement and list of artists was announced last week, we sent Dan Davidson an email asking him about the plans and how it all came together. He gave us some great insight. Check it out.
"With all of my fellow musicians cancelling tours and gigs it became pretty obvious that it could get scary. We all make 75% of our money in the summer at festivals - if those go away, it's going to make for a really tough situation. In our industry its not just the artists that are getting hit... if we aren't touring, our tour managers, sound guys, crews, video people etc are ALL not getting paid - and there aren't a lot of safety fall backs for us.
I know a lot of us have been doing living room concerts and live streaming but I figured why don't we do something bigger, let's all get together show some unity as country music family and bring our fans something really special. We found some sponsors to help us advertise properly, and set up a way for our fans to donate to Unison (to help artists in need) and to Red Cross (to assist with prevention and treatment efforts). Its really cool... no one is profiting from this - its just a cool way for us to show love for our fans, provide some assistance towards some great causes, and give everyone a little a little mental break from this crazy time.
We have been getting such a huge reception from all this, every day I'm getting more large acts approaching me. We are just about to announce a second wave of artists. We may even have to look at a second day! I'm so excited for this - I'm feeling very lucky to be a part of the country music family we have in Canada."
Note: To learn more about and donate to the Unison Benevolent Fund CLICK HERE and to learn more about and donate to the Canadian Red Cross CLICK HERE .
The action starts at 2 PM eastern time on Saturday and Sunday. We don't know how many songs each artist will play. We don't know how the whole thing is going to work. But we know that the commitment of these artists, the organizations that they are supporting, and the entertainment value that's going to be packed into these two days of music is going to be great.
Check out the full lineup for each day and enjoy the Diesel Bird Digital Music Festival!
Diesel Bird Digital Music Festival Lineup
Saturday, March 28, 2020
★ An interview with Dallas Smith★ A special appearance by On The Bench
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Sunday, March 29, 2020
★ Josh Ramsay (Mariana's Trench)
★ James Barker Band
★ Adam Gontier (Saint Asonia)
★ Shawn Hook
★ Corb Lund
★ The Reklaws
★ Lindsay Ell
★ Carolyn Dawn Johnson
★ Big Sugar
★ Meghan Patrick
★ Madeline Merlo
★ Tyler Shaw
★ Wide Mouth Mason
★ Clayton Bellamy (The Road Hammers)
★ JJ Shiplett
★ Kristin Carter
★ River Town Saints
★ Ferraro
★ The Prairie States
★ Plus interviews with Jess Moskaluke and Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion
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