A few Alberta musicians whose gigs got derailed by the last-minute cancellation of Country Thunder got rebooked for Saturday night, thanks to the Alberta Boot Company. The iconic western footwear store will be transformed into a country music venue Saturday night, featuring a trio of Alberta acts who were originally scheduled to sing at Country Thunder. Alberta Boot Company was a title sponsor of Country Thunder and so the cancellation was as jarring to them as it was to the artists, vendors and workers and fans who were left with no country music festival at The Confluence this weekend. “At the end of the day, it’s the Calgarians,” said Alberta Boot Company CEO Jay Taylor. “It’s the food trucks. It’s the people that are surrounding it that miss out on the experience. So it’s our way to try to bring a little of (that Country Thunder) experience to Stampede and get this hype going for the event.” The company decided, on no advance notice whatsoever, to transform its factory into a musical venue. “We worked with our marketing team, and we sort of knocked it out of the park trying to figure out a solution,” Taylor said. “So we’re going to put a stage in our factory, open up the doors to our retail floor, clean up the space, have as many people in as we can, and, enjoy the evening. And it’s going to be a fun few hours, I think.” Jaiden Riley, Chevy Beaulieu, and Josh Dillon will perform between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the factory, centrally located at 121 10 Avenue S.E., with doors open at 5 p.m. Taylor said re-routing Country Thunder artists to his factory went pretty smoothly. “We got the Country Thunder people on the line going, do you mind if we call some of the opening artists or opening acts or anybody you got coming? We’ll host the show for you?” he said. “(They said) ‘No problem.’” “We pivoted as quickly as we could to make something happen. So here we are.” When the cancellation was announced at noon Wednesday, Riley was among the heartbroken artists who reacted to the bad news. “I’m trying not to cry because I don’t want to ruin my makeup,” she said. “We were going to put on a really good show — I know I’m devastated and everyone from the band is gutted. “I’m trying to be optimistic about it but it’s hard,” she added. “All the work that we’ve put in. All the time — it was going to be the biggest stage of our career so far — so yeah, it’s a pretty tough pill to swallow." Riley and the Crybabies have a busy summer of concerts booked, including performing on Canada Day in Cochrane, the Bow Valley Bootstomp and multiple shows in Calgary during all 10 days of the upcoming Calgary Stampede. “This city is my hometown and it’s been kind to me and my music and my band and this sucks,” Riley said. Friday afternoon, Riley said she was looking forward to playing at Alberta Boot with her band the Crybabies. “I’ve seen the space. I think it’s going to be amazing,” she said. “I think the intimacy of it, especially at a time where all coming together now is community to still, you know, let the music live on, I think people will be more than happy to be shoulder to shoulder dancing and having a good time in there.” She said she was overwhelmed with support from fans and friends after the news of the cancellation broke. “I received so many messages from friends and family, even just fans that were heartbroken for me, folks that we’re supposed to play as well that reached out to me to say, I know how much you wanted this, I’m so sorry so, yeah, I felt a lot of love for sure,” she said. In addition to three hours of free, live country music, Alberta Boot is offering 10 per cent off to all Country Thunder ticket holders. “We have a full boot manufacturing centre,” Taylor said. “We’ve got two full retail stores. So you want to come and see your boots? Come get some made. Come on down if you want some, pearl snap button downs, hats, bandanas, wild rags for your Stampede (outfits). We got them all for you.” It might not be Country Thunder, but Live from Alberta Boot Company might a pretty good start to a pre-Stampede Saturday night. “You know, I think in our business we’re about the art of the possible and the business of ‘yes,’” Taylor said. “So here we are.” For more about the Alberta Boot Company, go here. With files from CTV News’ Kevin Fleming
