With the second largest country music festival in North America just around the corner, rising stars are gearing up for their moment with the Boots Fam! As these young artists continue paving their way in the country music industry, festival-goers can catch their sets and get to know their music all weekend long.
Here’s when you can catch the latest and greatest young stars at Boots and Hearts!
Thursday August 8:
Shantaia: This Spiritwood, Saskatchewan-born artist took home the winning title of the 2023 Emerging Artist Showcase at Boots and Hearts. This year, Shantaia returns to the festival as part of her grand prize, performing before Lonestar and Midland. This past June, she released her single, “What I Wouldn’t Do,” with Universal Music Canada. Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, Shantaia has over 22,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and opened the main stage at the 2024 Cavendish Beach Music Festival.
Friday August 9:
Taylor-Rae: After coming runner-up in the 2022 Emerging Artists Showcase to Owen Riegling, Taylor-Rae is ready to shine and take the Boots and Hearts stage! While she has been releasing music since 2018, her most recent single, “Sendin’ Myself to Church,” was released this July. Taylor-Rae has previously worked with household names in country music, including Carly Pearce, who is credited as one of the writers for her 2021 single, “Are You Still Up.”
Kalsey Kulyk: Over the past few years, Kalsey has been making an impressive impact on the country music industry. In August 2020, she released her single, “Who I Was,” which soon after became her very first Billboard Canada Country charting song. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kalsey and her husband, singer Eric Ethridge, took on a new lifestyle and embarked on a cross-country journey. After building a camper van, the couple began their “Love on the Road” tour, bringing a portable concert to cities and towns across Canada. Most recently, Kalsey released her debut album, “Outlaw Poetry,” in February 2024 and is set to take the stage at Boots.
Nate Haller: Having started his career as a session player, Nate is no stranger to the country music business. After his single, “Lightning In A Bottle,” shot up on the Top 10 on Canadian radio, his success has been unstoppable. In November 2022, Nate released his debut album, Party In The Back, which earned him a 2023 CMAOntario Award for Album of the Year. He was also selected as one of the few participants in the 2023/2024 Allan Slaight JUNO’s Master Class and has been named an iHeart Radio Future Star. Nate released his latest single, “Drive,” this past June.
Redferrin: Since 2021, Redferrin has been releasing a unique style of country music that has been embraced with open arms. Having co-written songs for established artists in the past, including Florida Georgia Line’s “Countryside” and Dean Brody and The Reklaws’ “I Can’t Help Myself,” Redferrin has proved that he can create an array of music. This past February, he released an EP titled Old No. 7, which included his hit single, “Jack and Diet Coke” and introduced the smash track, “Just Like Johnny.”
Chayce Beckham: In 2021, Chayce won the 19th season of American Idol, becoming the very first contestant to win the show by performing their own songs. A week prior to his big win, Chayce released his breakout single, “23,” which continues to nab over 406 million streams. His debut album Bad For Me was released this past April and Chayce is stopping by Boots and Hearts as part of his “Bad For Me” Tour.
Megan Moroney: Everyone’s favourite “Emo Cowgirl” is heading to Boots and Hearts. In September 2022, Megan released her sensational single, “Tennessee Orange,” which quickly helped the young artist gain countless fans. She joined the CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2023 and in the same year released her debut album, Lucky, which Rolling Stone named the best country album of 2023. Megan is once again turning heads with her singles, “No Caller ID,” “28th of June” and “Indifferent,” all of which are featured on her latest sophomore album, Am I Okay? On top of this, Megan released a single on the highly anticipated Twisters: The Album titled “Never Left Me.”
Saturday August 10:
Lauren Watkins: In 2023, Lauren came onto the country music scene with her debut EP, Introducing: Lauren Watkins, before releasing her debut album The Heartbroken Record this past June. She can currently be found opening for Morgan Wallen on his “One Night At A Time” Tour.
Bryan Martin: Bryan has been releasing music since 2019, but it was in 2022 when his career truly started to skyrocket. His single, “We Ride,” gained widespread attention across social media platforms and charted on the Billboard Country Airplay charts in 2023, a few months after its release. Bryan released his third album, Poets & Old Souls, in March 2023 and has since released two more singles, “Goin For Broke” and “Wishbone.”
Jackson Dean: Over the past few years, Jackson has been taking his career to new heights, specifically with the release of his single, “Don’t Come Lookin.’” The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2021 Netflix film The Ice Road, and season four, episode seven of the television series Yellowstone. Since then, Jackson has released his singles, “Fearless (The Echo),” in 2023 and “When A Man Loves A Woman,” “Big Blue Sky,” and “Train” earlier this year.
Sunday August 11:
Brian John Harwood: Raised in Innisfil, Ontario, not far from the Boots and Hearts festival grounds itself, Brian was originally a member of the band Kansas Stone. After becoming a solo artist in 2019, he began releasing singles, including “Growing Old,” “All That I Was Missing” and “Make You Mine.” Over the years, Brian has performed with household country music names including Dallas Smith and Brett Kissel. This past June, the artist released his latest single, “Dreamin.”
Dayna Reid: In 2022, Dayna broke out onto the country music scene with her debut EP, Back To The Trailer. In the same year, her single “She’s Me” obtained a Stingray Radio’s Trending Track title and Dayna was named iHeart Radio’s Future Star. In July, she released her latest single, “Still Believe In Love.”
Dillon James: In 2020, Dillon was selected as one of the finalists on season 18 of American Idol. In 2023, a few years after his time on the show, he released his first single, “Walking Man”. Dillon released his debut EP, River Black, in July, which includes his singles, “Call Me Up” and “My Shadow.” Gaining traction in the touring scene, Dillon was a special guest on Nickelback’s “Get Rollin’ Tour” in July at the California Mid-State Fair.
Alana Springsteen: After a number of years releasing singles, and travelling back and forth between Virginia Beach and Nashville, Alana released her debut album, TWENTY SOMETHING, in August 2023. The album includes hit tracks, “ghost in my guitar” (featuring Chris Stapleton) and “goodbye looks good on you” (featuring Mitchell Tenpenny). Alana is currently touring across Canada and the United States.
Regardless of which day you attend Boots and Hearts 2024, you are guaranteed to see a talented lineup! Don’t miss your chance to see these up-and-coming artists live in concert at Canada’s largest country music festival!
