It’s not every day that artists get to perform for a crowd of over 45,000 people, but that was Medicine Hat-born MacKenzie Porter’s reality at Ontario’s Boots and Hearts Music Festival last weekend. The country singer performed ahead of Dustin Lynch, with whom she’s held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard country charts with their song “Thinking ‘Bout You” for six weeks.
Now, Porter is Alberta bound for downtime with family before setting off to play Country Thunder Alberta’s sold out festival on August 13 in Calgary, which attracts music fans from across the West, including Edmonton.
“It’s been so cool this summer to see such massive crowds come for my show and know the words as you sing along and stand in the merch lines,” says Porter. “It’s very cool to come home and play shows in Canada again and to see that some of that hard work has been paying off. And to play Calgary for Country Thunder Alberta is so much fun because so many of my high school friends are coming and my parents and my sister. It’ll be a great show.”
Porter recently earned her fifth No.1 country single in Canada, making her the first Canadian female in this century to earn five No. 1 country songs. She follows Shania Twain as the second Canadian female in history to land five No. 1 singles on country radio.
“There’s just something about coming home. I just feel refreshed and I get to see everybody,” says Porter. “I was telling my band that there’s something about Alberta air, like I feel like I can release a lot of stress when I come home. So I’m really looking forward to that.”
Porter is nominated for Songwriter of the Year and Video of the Year at the 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards for her single “Pickup,” which reach No. 1 on the Billlboard Canada Country charts.
Listen to Porter’s “Pickup” and “Think ‘Bout You” with Dustin Lynch at mackenzieporter.com
While in Alberta, Porter is promoting a contest with Canadian chain Mucho Burrito. Until August 25, Alberta customers can build their own burrito at any store and share it on social media with #BuildYourOwnMuchoBurrito for the chance to have their creation added to the menu in Alberta and win one per cent in earned royalties from all sales at Alberta store locations for a month; this is promoted by North Strategic.
