Manitoba Ag Days has wrapped up at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, and a local singer-songwriter is honoured to have his new song included in a recap video of the event.
It’s called Farmer Town, written and performed by Matt Zimmerman who calls Kleefeld home.
"I'm honoured Manitoba Ag days wants to have my song Farmer Town as part of their big wrap up video for Ag Days 2024," explained Zimmerman while he visited the Golden West booth at Canada's largest indoor farm show this week. "And then to also be able to showcase the single here, in front of all the exhibitors at the Roadhouse in Brandon. I'm absolutely honoured."
Zimmerman used to be part of the Golden West family, and has been on the music scene for a while now. He grew up in Steinbach, and his childhood home's backyard backed onto a farmer's field.
"I got as close to being on the farm as I could," he said with a chuckle.
Farmer Town comes from the rural lifestyle experiences Zimmerman has had, which included living in Brandon for about ten years.
"I was on a road trip with my wife and my grandmother out to Shoal Lake, and I thought, you know, these small towns, they're all here for one reason, and they're here to support the farming industry," he shared when talking about where the idea for the song came from. "They've got one streetlight, one grain elevator, one coffee shop, one hairdresser, all that kind of stuff. I thought that's small town life. It's here to support the people producing, and so it just made lots of sense. When we went back to the trailer up at Clear Lake, I sat down in the add-a- room, just outside the trailer, and I wrote Farmer Town."
Matt's time at Manitoba Ag Days also served as the kickoff to a tour in support of his new song:
Friday, Jan. 19th - Virden Legion - Virden, MB (single release day)
Saturday, January 20th - Morden - Rock's Bar and Grill
Wednesday, Jan. 24th - The Sawmill - Boissevain, MB
Thursday, Jan. 25th - The Dock - Brandon, MB
Sunday, Jan. 28th - Mid-West Arts Council - Hamiota, MB
Friday, Feb. 2nd - Bigg Smoak BBQ - Steinbach, MB (music video release day)