The 37th annual Peterborough Musicfest season will kick off with country music flavour as Tenille Townes will take to the stage in late June.

Tenille Townes will open the Peterborough Musicfest’s 37th annual season with a show on June 29, 2024. Geoff Robins, The Canadian Press

Organizers say Townes, the five-time reigning Canadian County Music Awards’ Female Artist of the Year, will be the first act for the free summer concert series in Peterborough, Ont.

Townes will perform at Del Crary Park on Saturday, June 29. It will be her first time performing in the city.

Townes’ accolades also include 17 CCMAs and two Academy of Country Music Awards. She also makes regular appearances on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn.

Her debut album in 2020, The Lemonade Stand, won the 2021 Juno Award for Country Album of the Year and includes the hit songs Somebody’s Daughter, and  Jersey on the Wall (I’m Just Asking), the latter about performing at a high school in New Brunswick where she learned of a recent car crash that claimed the life of the school’s top basketball player.

Her next album, Masquerades, released in 2022, also earned her a Juno Award for top country album.

Her latest work includes As You Are, which was released in February 2024, which she says is about “being there for somebody” and accepting one’s self.

Townes, who grew up in Grande Prairie, Alta., credits her parents for introducing her to music. She says she discovered her passion for songwriting at age 14.

Among her influences are singer/songwriters Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna.

“My grandparents gave me a guitar, and I started learning the chords I needed to make songs out of what I was writing in my journal,” Townes stated.

Townes has toured with musical legends including Stevie Nicks, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Reba McEntire, Zac Brown Band and Dierks Bentley.

Peterborough Musicfest’s 2024 season runs from June 29 to Aug. 17 with free concerts every Wednesday and Saturday night and on Canada Day.