Firebird Grilled Chicken & Smokies is grillin' up a whole lotta goodness...on the road. The food truck truck will be making their first appearance at Brandon's Food Truck Warz in 2023. Owner Pete Klippenstein told bdnmb.ca that they only use top quality ingredients including their meats which are supplied by Earl's Meat Market out of Steinbach. Their signature potato buns are sourced out of Pennsylvania and the BBQ sauce is from South Dakota. They also have an inhouse made Firebird splice blend for the grilled chicken burgers as well. Organizers of Food Truck Warz was able to sample some of the food yesterday and can list both the Majestic Club and the chili as "must try's" at this years event. The chili had a nice, bright profile and there was a lightness to the flavor and texture. The grilled chicken sandwich was tender and juicy and the BBQ sauce took the burger to the next level. They also added a smash burger to their menu this year that will get the taste buds tingling. The burger patty is made from black angus beef and you can choose a single or a double when ordering. The double with cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and smash burger sauce is perfect for those with a health appetite. Food Truck Warz  will take place September 15 – 17, 2023 at the Keystone Centre and will offer 26 Food Trucks from all over Manitoba & Saskatchewan. In addition, Select Shows will return to Food Truck Warz. $5 per person Children 12 & under FREE. Free Parking. Facebook event page.

Brandon's Matt Cory has been making steady strides to becoming a major player in Canada's music industry.   This week he has been given 4 nominations for the upcoming Manitoba Loud Music Awards Matt please explain to all the BDNMB.CA followers what the Manitoba Loud Music Awards is this something new? Cory - The Manitoba Loud Music Awards is an award show showcasing “loud music” in Manitoba. They utilize a voting system to pick winners in a variety of different categories including Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Metal and more. The voting period is open September 1st to 30th at https://loudawards.com/vote/ but there will be in person ballots available at the fundraiser on September 15, 2023 at XCues Cafe & Lounge (551 Sargent Ave) in Winnipeg. From the Manitoba Loud Music Awards website: Our goal is to show support to musicians, whether it’s a new band that wants to gain exposure, an established band that just wants to share their passion and new music with fans , or a touring band that’s rolling through our beautiful province. We thrive to inspire young musicians to present their music with us. One of our main goals is to help heal mental health through the love of music. We Support Your Local Scene Now you have been nominated for 4 awards 1 – Band of the Year 2 – Singer of the Year 3 – Guitarist of the Year 4 – Single of the Year – Lit Up and Out of Line Cory - In regards to my nominations, I am incredibly honoured to have been recognized! I’m very proud and grateful to have my work and dedication be acknowledged in four different categories. None of this would’ve happened without my band. I want to give a huge shoutout to Nick Schoonbaert, Ian Morrice, Terry Brown and Cy Arthurson for all their effort, talent and patience in working with me. I’d also like to mention past members as well including Wes Lipischak, Troy McKenzie, Ryan Felstead and Mike Leech for all their help. My life is music. My passion is music. It is constantly on my mind. I never stop thinking about it. If I could perform every single night of the year I would without hesitation. I live to create, perform and write music. It’s what I’m on earth to do. I’m not necessarily in it to win it in regards to the Loud Music Awards. I’m just so happy that this style of music has an outlet to be seriously recognized in Manitoba. As Chris Jericho once said on his Talk is Jericho Podcast, “Winnipeg is a true metal town.” I agree with this, but I think Manitoba is truly a metal province. I am ecstatic that through the Manitoba Loud Music Awards, we can finally acknowledge that loud music has a place as some of the government bodies that are supposed to help our Manitoba artists grow have put in almost zero effort and will not take loud music seriously. Matt Cory performing at the Salamander Music Festival What is wrong with Rock Music today for example local radio loves artists like Trooper and Toronto but where are the new bands?   Cory - I can only speak for myself in regards to what’s wrong with rock music today. There are tons of amazing rock acts out there making fantastic music. Unfortunately, you just have to seek them out at this time. I’ve had the honour of sharing the stage with many of these acts over the years across Manitoba and they continue to blow my mind and push me to be better. I feel that certain rock radio stations aren’t willing to take a chance on newer acts and often rely on old acts because they know it “works”. Unfortunately, our local “rock” station isn’t interested in new rock, that’s just not what they do. The play the classics. As far as I understand, our local rock station doesn’t even pick their own material. It comes from an office outside the province… which leaves djs hands tied and that seems very strange to me. This leaves listeners unaware of what’s going on in their area. If we want rock to comeback into the mainstream in a big way, I think rock radio need to seek out 10 Canadian rock acts that are the whole package. They need to have the look, the business savvy, the following, social media skills, but most importantly they have the songs. They need to take these 10 bands and pump the hell out of them on stations. They don’t need to remove the older bands all together, but mix the new and old together like stations do in larger cities. Westman needs a station that will play NEW rock! Simple as that. Why does Canadian Rock Music seem to be in a slump so to speak? Cory - Rock isn’t dead. It’ll never die. The analogy I like to use is rock music is like mosquitoes… no matter how many times you think it’s dead, it keeps coming back and will continue to do so. At a local level how can people support local not only rock music but all types of music? Cory - It’s so easy to support local acts, go to the shows, buy their merch, listen to their music, share their music across social media if it speaks to you, request their music on stations and if they say they can’t help, keep bugging them until they need to make a change! The Manitoba Loud Music Awards will take place at the Park Theatre (698 Osborne St.) in Winnipeg, MB on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Good luck and thank you Matt from all of us at BDNMB.CA

The sixth annual Food Truck Warz event will be taking place at the Keystone Centre in Brandon from September 15-17. The three-day event pits some of the province's best trucks against each other for a battle of the best. While foodies in Brandon are anxiously awaiting their opportunity to try the offerings from the 28 different vendors, the food trucks themselves have had this date circled on their calendar for some time as well. Darren Zembik, owner of the extremely popular Wings-n-Fries food truck, is looking forward to participating in the event for the 5th time. "We enjoy the event in Brandon due to the amount of people that support the food trucks. Also the setup of the food trucks and the location are ideal." Zembik told bdnmb.ca. The affable Zembik, who also operates a mini-donut and lemonade truck (Lemon Train), participants in 3 events annually that are similar to the Brandon Food Truck Warz. "I would rank the Brandon Food Truck Warz very high on a scale a solid 10. The amount of thought and advertising to promote this event is done to the max to assure the event is a success". Regina's Tim Philip (Frying Deautschmann) participated for the first time in 2022 and is returning to the event in 2023. The summer is a very busy time of year for Philip who is extremely active on the food truck scene in Saskatchewan. "Brandon is our only Manitoba event at the moment. We love coming to Brandon because I grew up in Souris and still have family in the area" said Philip. The well decorated truck recently won the judges favorite (Nashville Hot Schnitzel Sandwich) at Regina's Food Truck Wars. "The event (Brandon's Food Truck Warz) itself is unique because it has the midway, and great services for vendors". For information on this year's event, please click here. To visit the Facebook event page, click here.

The KENNY VS SPENNY 20 Year Anniversary Tour will be making a stop in Brandon on Friday, September 29 at Houstons. The Canadian comedy duo had a  television series for many years which pitted the 2 best friends against each other in competitions with the loser having to complete an act of humiliation, usually selected by the winner. The show ran for six seasons with the last episode coming in December of 2010. Tickets to the event are available online. The show starts at 8:30pm an doors open at 7:30.

A new festival is being launched in Brandon, MB.  Hatch is a two day block party style festival taking place on parking Lot 2A of the Brandon University campus.  Surrounded by the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, and Brandon University’s schools of music and education, Hatch features creative site-making as part of its transformation of a school parking lot into a community focused music and art event. Due to the nature of the site, only 500 tickets are available per day.  While taking place on the university campus, the event is for all in Westman.  Knowing that Brandon is a growing city and having a vision for how music, art and community can come together to change lives, Hatch is focused on bringing people together and creating an opportunity for guests to have uplifting, celebratory experiences.  We look forward to Hatch becoming a deeply loved staple in the Westman annual calendar.  The debut lineup of artists includes a collection of celebrated former Brandon artists who have gone on to big things across North America: Field Guide (Dylan MacDonald, formerly of The Middle Coast) Calgary-based Roots/Country trailblazer JJ Shiplett New Orleans-style party outfit The Dirty Catfish Brass Band Producer and songwriter (and formerly of The Middle Coast) Roman Clarke  Other musical performers include JUNO nominated roots powerhouse duo The Small Glories, and up and coming singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann, fresh off a tour with Donovan Woods.  Former Brandon saxophonist Sean Irvine joins Touching for their first performance since putting out two albums, Isolation Blues and littleworlds.  JUNO-nominated Burnstick is a husband-and-wife duo comprised of Francophone-Métis singer-songwriter Nadia, and Jason, a Plains-Cree guitarist.  Contemporary dancers Sophie Milord & Jace Hodges will create an improvised performance in one of Hatch’s creative stage spaces. Visual artist Casey Koyczan’s playful work will surround the audience.  Longtime Montreal-based violist Jen Thiessen has recently returned to Manitoba. Originally from Austin, Manitoba, Jen has traveled the world playing classical new music and is now the Artistic Director of Virtuosi. She will be leading performances by Daily Alice and Classics By Candlelight.  Additional artists will be announced over the coming month.  Hatch partners with landscape architect Mark Bauche (HTFC Planning & Design) for creative site design that enhances guest’s experience with immersive space-making creativity.  Hatch is produced by Michael Falk. Michael's company Head In The Sand is perhaps best known as a record label, from 2009 to 2017 they released albums by Iceland’s Apparat Organ Quartet, Royal Canoe, Rococode, Les Jupes, VIKINGS, Ismaila Alfa, and more. Since then the company shifted its focus to artist management and special events. Recently, Falk has been producing concerts for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (including the WSO’s concerts at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium), and previously produced Jazz Winnipeg’s festival. In 2016, Michael produced SpaceLand, a pop-up block party event that was well-loved, the idea sticking in the back of his mind, wanting a new life. And here we are.  TICKET INFO $30 per day $50 for both days Available at hatchfest.ca Hatch is 18+.