Day FOUR post True North’s win in the Golden Eagle, Road to the Country Stampede Challenge…the iPhone has been exploding and email whirring. As True North continues the journey to play not once, but TWICE at the Country Stampede, we will attempt to capture the highlights and keep friends and fans updated of events via True North’s blog.
Fans: True North has been asked by 94.5 Country to kick off the Country Stampede Thursday, June 24, 3:30-4 PM, Main Stage. We will also perform our Road to the Stampede winning slot on the Main Stage Saturday, June 26, 1-2 PM.
Ralph Hipp, Station Anchor at WIBW TV who is a fan of True North, has invited the band to the WIBW studios Monday, June 21, to record an acoustic version of “Almost Tried” and take video of the band producing and playing an original song. Tentatively, the news footage will be utilized to promote True North’s win in conjunction with the events at the Country Stampede. After Thursday’s Main Stage performance, Ralph and the WIBW TV team will be interviewing True North about the County Stampede Challenge and our experiences on the journey…on LIVE TV! Details to follow on how fans can catch True North on TV…even if you are not attending the Stampede.
Special thanks to the Kansas Chief, Hiawatha World, Pitch Weekly, Vindicator and other media outlets whom have covered True North over the years and provided supportive press for original Country music from the Midwest.
True North has played a variety of larger sized venues over the past several years such as the Nebraska State Fair, Des Moines Arts Festival, Trails West and the Amelia Earhart Festival, but not a venue of the Country Stampede’s magnitude. The Country Stampede Staff (Wayne, Chris, Chris and others) have been amazing to rapidly respond to band email request of “how is this going to work, what parking passes do we need, when do we need to show up, what stage-plot works best for you,” etc. The AF Stampede team is first class and despite the band’s new participation in this event, has made us feel right at home; dealing with the particulars of the events and planning TWO performances seamlessly!
Here’s a great story! One of our fans who has a connection with Briggs, got on the phone to the Briggs Auto Group, a Stampede Sponsor. This fan arranged for Briggs to donate two new vans (passenger & cargo) to True North so we could load all our equipment, crew and individuals together and make the trip Thursday and Saturday’s to the Stampede! What amazing, loyal fans this band has…who make requests, unasked for, that cause our experience to be AMAZING!
Of course, rehearsal on Wednesday evening was focused on promotions, what the band must do in order to prepare for the Stampede…and other discussion abounded. We ironed out Set List for both Thursday and Saturday’s performances, creating two unique, killer sets for fans and the Stampede audience to enjoy. We all decided the main take away from being involved in the Contest was: make this experience memorable for the band and fans alike and above all, have fun and be thankful for the opportunity.
As the band was talking details of the Stampede and the Golden Eagle performance last week, Garrett & Gary reminisced about when this project began, six year ago, and what they wanted out of the True North Original Music Project. Gary said it best about his ultimate goal for True North, “One more time in my life I want to walk on stage, with a band, who is one hell of a band, walk off the stage that night and have played a near perfect set…and that was at the Golden Eagle. I want to say thank you to my friends/ band-mates for this experience, we played really well…whether we had won or lost.” There might have been a few tears shed during that discussion, by everyone!
More event details, Stampede happenings and press will be forthcoming the remainder of this week and into next. Keep watching for updates on the True North website, Facebook and Twitter! –Will Gladhart
True North Music's Blog 