Nelson Little is ready to make it happen. Hot on the heels of winning a Manitoba Country Music Award last November, the Portage resident hit the studio and now has a brand new song.

The new song that premiered this week is called Just Make it Happen and it took a whole host of artists, musicians, and writers to put it together, many either from Portage or with roots in the community. Little talks about the many people that played a part.

"Bart McKay is a producer in Saskatchewan right now and I think everyone in town is familiar with him and he went to school here, he grew up here. He's worked with so many big names and he's on the track playing keys. Dave Wasyliw of Doc Walker is a producer and we've worked together before. It just feels like half of the team or more is from Portage La Prairie, Murray Pulver is another person from town and he's played with Crash Test Dummies and of course with Doc Walker.  We asked him to play a 50s style of rock and roll on guitar. We're trying to put a little bit of rock in this so to have a guy like that in there along with Troy Flamand also from Portage playing in the band, it's just making me start to feel like the recipe is starting to work and I'm enjoying it."

Little also recognized the work of Dave Rodgers, another long-time Portage resident who co-wrote the song and was a big part of the concept.

"He showed me a stack of songs he had written a few years ago. Some went back to the 80's. I knew then he took his songwriting pretty seriously because if you collect that many stories as a songwriter, that's big. That day I clicked with him and we became good friends, he is a bit of a mentor for me in business. I've been doing work around town in carpentry and maintenance and eventually started working for myself. It took a long time to get there. And so his message to me is always just make it happen. Don't, don't ever put an excuse in front of you because that one excuse could be the 1 percent of why you don't take a step forward."

Rodgers has been a part of the process every step of the way and talked about the message in the song.

"We wanted to share a message that encourages others to chase their dreams and take on challenges. To do everything to achieve their goals. We wanted to portray positive vibes to everyone. The music is upbeat, lively, cheerful, energetic, and exciting. Something you're gonna even dance to."

Now that the song is playing on radio stations in the country, the next step is making a video and having a release party. Rodgers says this process will start on Sunday.

"At 11:30 we're going to be in downtown Winnipeg at the Thunderbird House. Nelson's going to be singing the song and we will give out free pizza and bottled water along with some mitts and toques. We feel like giving back to the community is a great thing to do. Then, around 2 o'clock we're going to be over at the Royal George Hotel. The video shoot starts at 4 and it's a free show. There's going to be giveaways and a lot of musicians there. It's going to be a packed house. Plus we'll have a tour bus out front. It will be an exciting evening for sure."

Dave Wasyliw of Doc Walker is a producer of the song and shared how he got involved.

"I'd worked with Dave (Rodgers) before and Nelson on a couple of songs, so I jumped at the chance.  Dave's a very energetic, enthusiastic guy, and when he wants something he goes and gets it. He makes it happen, and if that's a bad pun, I don't care, it's true. They brought me an acoustic version and it was very much a rocker. I brought in some people I know and it's quite a Portage connection. I think it turned out really fun. It's super energetic and it makes you want to dance, and I don't dance. It's a great message as well."

Little is appreciative for all the support and is excited to see where the song may go.

"Sometimes I feel like giving up. It's a hard battle of doing music while I'm trying to raise three kids and and make enough money to pay the bills. It's a tough goal, but to have a team like this, it's making me feel a part of not only my song, but of a group that it takes to put the music out there. So yeah, I'm excited."

Listen to the song here: