Langenburg-born Jess Moskaluke is the latest Saskatchewan country artist to perform at the Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. During the Canadian Country Music Awards in Saskatoon last weekend, the up-and-coming artist was surprised by friend and radio host Shannon Ella with the announcement. Moskaluke, who has a quarter-million monthly listeners on the streaming platform Spotify, told CTV News she was truly shocked. “When [Ella] said my name, I freaked out because I was like, ‘She’s inviting me to make my Opry debut!’” Moskaluke recalled. The biggest names have taken the stage the Saskatchewan-born singer is about to step on, among them the late Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks. From her home province, Moskaluke, along with Kalsey Kulyk, is following the 2019 debut of Tenille Arts. She will appear on the stage on Oct. 29, though many of the details are still unknown to the artist herself. “I don’t know if I’m doing one song, I don’t know if I’m doing part of a song or ten songs. I know nothing more than what you saw on TV,” she explained. The only certainty at this point is that her lifelong dream is coming true. “I’ve got to think of a new goal because I spent the last 36 years of my life dreaming about playing the Opry and never really thinking it could happen.” Moskaluke started singing early, and she’s known to have experimented with songwriting, drawing inspiration from everyday life. “I remember taking voice lessons in Yorkton with Doug Riley, and I remember him saying, ‘You know, all these opportunities come your way, and you just can’t say no to anything. You need to get that experience under your belt,’” she recalled. She began travelling to Nashville, Los Angeles and Denver to perform while studying at university. “I had the tough conversation with my mom, and I had just said, ‘I think that music might not be there for the rest of my life. These are opportunities that don’t come around more than once.’” Before she knew it, singing became her full-time job. “I think that if they were trying to learn who I am as a person, I think Mapdot would be the perfect song for them to listen to,” Moskaluke said. “Stylistically, if they wanted to know the overarching sound of my music, I would say Life for Me.” Giving up higher education wasn’t the only hard decision Moskaluke faced throughout her career. There were also questions about whether she’d follow the country pathway and move to Nashville permanently. The decision to stay in Saskatchewan, according to Moskaluke, had some impact on her career. “I think that we unintentionally sometimes celebrate artists from Nashville more than we celebrate the ones here in our own backyard. We think that they’re not as successful because they never did make the move [to Nashville], but it’s a choice,” she explained. “I chose my family and my friends, and just the place that I love so much.” While she enjoys being in Nashville and performing in other big cities, Moskaluke regularly brings her music back to her roots in the Parkland area. During her 2025 Life for Me Tour, she dedicated two dates to her hometown of Langenburg, and in 2026, she was one of the headliners for Yorkton’s first Living Skies Music Festival. When asked whether she expects her schedule to fill up quicker after her debut at the Opry, Moskaluke chuckled and said she hopes so. “This year we have a couple of Christmas songs coming out, and we’ll have new music again in 2027 as well.”
