Portage will soon be filled with the soundwaves of two legendary Canadian artists. 

Gord Bamford is making his way across Canada, with Portage being one of his next pit stops on his Canadian Dirt Tour on November 11th at 7 p.m. 

Bamford says that it is always great to play in front of a crowd that embodies what all of his songs are about. 

"I am a pretty blue-collar, you know, straight meat and potato type guy. That's why we're playing a lot of these smaller towns, getting in there and playing. It's where I grew up, it's what I do. So, I enjoy them the most, and I love coming to these small communities and performing."

He says that he got into country music because of hearing artists like George Strait, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Merle Haggard on the Radio. 

"It was just the phase of my life that I got into country music, and obviously, I grew up on a farm and stuff, so I just fell in love with it. However, my journey to where I am today was never planned. It just happened. I'm very fortunate that it did, and I'm sure happy I'm doing it."

Just days later, on Monday November 13th, the Scott Woods Band will take over McKenzie United Church to play their Christmas lineup for the community. 

Scott Wood says that he absolutely loves playing in our area and that he has been out here over 50 times. 

"The first year we came out, I was the guest artist at the 1st annual Winston Simpson, Carman Fiddle Festival. I was only 15 years old, and we got the bug, and I'll tell you, we love coming to Western Canada, and small towns love their fiddle music and traditional country music." 

Although the weather hasn't always been the nicest to them while on tour, he thinks it helps them get into the feeling of Christmas when it snows.

"Once again, we're braving the weather and crossing our fingers to travel to all our shows safely. We have 43 shows in 48 days across five provinces, running right up until December 22nd."

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