PRAIRIELINE is a Manitoba-based band that fuses Métis fiddle music with the nostalgia of ‘90s country and the energy of new country music, and they’ll look to bring that experience to the big tent on Thursday, July 16, at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
Drummer Jonathan Peters, also known as JP, said most of the band have been friends since their childhood in the Interlake Region of southern Manitoba.
“PRAIRIELINE officially formed about three years ago now; all of us are pretty much freelance guys. We play with multiple Manitoba country artists, but the core of the band actually started playing together in high school,” JP told The Times.
“They’re proud Métis boys, and they grew up playing fiddle music together as well as country and rock. As they grew up, life pulled them in different directions, and many of them ended up still continuing to do music, but not necessarily together always, and so a couple years ago we had the opportunity to play together again, and, and we just had such a blast that we were like, ‘why don’t we just start actively doing this again together, and instead of just playing for other artists, let’s make our own band.’”
The group, which is led by frontman, guitarist and Manitoba Métis artist Aaron Lavallee, has become a prominent fixture on the Manitoba festival and rodeo circuit.
“We do lots of summer festivals and rodeos; that’s kind of our main schtick,” JP said.
“Most of our work has been throughout Manitoba, so we’ve played Dauphin Countryfest. We’ve done a lot of the small-town kind of fairs and festivals; we’ve done the Niverville Fair a few years ago, we did the Steinbach Summer in the City last year, and this year again we’ll be up in Austin, Man. for the Thresherman’s Reunion. Last year we did the Morris Stampede as well; now it’s called Manitoba Stampede, but that’s the big one around here.”
JP says audiences seem to really love the ‘90s era of country music that they base their setlist around.
“It’s a pretty special era of music; I think the songwriting is really strong, and there’s a lot of storytelling that really connects with people,” he said.
“I think also the age that we are, as band members, but also the age that a lot of the people are who are coming out to these shows, there’s an element of nostalgia now, where those songs are kind of coming back to life again. They remember them from their earlier days, but they’re still incredible tunes that are well written. The core of this band has been playing these songs kind of since they came out, so we’ve kind of homed in on a pretty killer setlist that our goal is that song after song, people are just ‘Oh my gosh, not this one too,’ and just excited song after song to dance and to sing along and to and to joy, enjoy the night.”
The band also put out an original song of their own in 2025 called “Long Way to Go.”
Other members of the band are fiddle and guitar player and Aaron’s brother, JJ Lavallee, and guitarist and Manitoba Country Music Award-winning fiddle player Brad Moggie. Bass player Joey Penner, who joined the group this year, and Jonathan Peters, JP, who was named the 2025 drummer of the year at the MCMAs.
While the band members all have other projects and bands that they play with, JP says when they all get together, it’s a great sound.
“We’ve all got a lot of different projects on the go, but whenever the five of us are able to come back to get together, it is something special; it is something unique,” he said.
“It kind of feels like home a bit, and I think that people experience that in the crowd as well. There’s a little bit of magic that happens when Brad pulls out that fiddle and we’re going hard, and when the crowd is into it, so we really have love whenever we get the five of us to play together and yeah, people really feed off of that energy.”
PRAIRIELINE will take to the stage under the big tent at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship on Thursday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available in advance for $15 plus fees online at ticketscene.ca/events/63880/.
Other events under the tent for the FFCBC will include Kids Quest for the Best on Wednesday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at Causeway Insurance or The Harbourage. This will be a fun, non-competitive talent show featuring the youth of our region.
Quest for the Best takes place Friday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., with VIP seats available for $30 and general admission for $20.
On Saturday, cover band CROSS ROADS will take to the stage to celebrate the conclusion of the tournament starting at 8 p.m. tickets for Saturday night are available for $15 plus fees at https://ticketscene.ca/events/63881/. Saturday night will be a 19+ event.
