Sunday is the final day of this year's Threshermen's Reunion at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin. While the event features everything from classic farm machinery to demonstrations to the stampede each night, there are many other activities on the schedule, and live music is one of them.
The event sets the stage for many well-known Manitoba artists, but also up-and-coming future talent. Popular band Banned and Outlawed closed out the night Saturday, and others, like Prairieline, Damn Straight, Northern Reflections, Bull Ruckus, Jules and the Prairie Boys and the Johnny Dietrich trio have also graced the various stages over the past few days.
Lesser-known bands and some that are just starting have also had the opportunity to play for the thousands of visitors, and one of those is a trio of performers that make up the group Third Wheel Drive. Baeya Hyde, Kolton Plett, and Ella Ferris are all entering grade 9 at Portage Collegiate, and they were on stage for their first "real show" Thursday afternoon.
The young band has been together for about a year, and they've performed at their school and for family and friends, but this was their first time with a wide open audience, and a show that lasted close to an hour as opposed to three or four songs.
Hyde, the guitarist in the trio, was excited about how it went.
"I think it went really good. We've been practicing for a very long time, and we've been anticipating this for so long, I'm glad that we did it. It was our first show, there is lots to learn. I'm glad we had a smaller crowd to start off with. It was a perfect venue for our first show."
Ferris, the lead singer, was all smiles after they had done the set.
"There were a few mishaps but other than that, it went well and we rolled with it. I learned I need to talk to the crowd a little more. Maybe we can start working on one of of own songs. It was a lot of fun."
Plett is the drummer and commented it was a great first experience.
"It went pretty much as it should have. It was a ton of fun. It makes me want to do it again, here next summer or somewhere else. I knew I couldn't get too nervous or things wouldn't go well and it was a good lesson for next time."
Ed Goertzen has been performing for years around Portage la Prairie and is a music teacher with the Portage School Division. The three aspiring musicians have all been a part of his classes over the years. Goertzen was actually on stage right before them and stayed to take in the show.
"I was actually quite a bit older than them the first time I did a show. They are all great students. I'm sure it is something they will remember for a long time, and if they want to keep working at it the sky is the limit. They have lots of talent already, and they are just entering high school."
The band recently surpassed one thousand followers on TikTok and they are very active on social media.
@thirdwheeldrive_band Band Introductions! Check out our covers! Kolton Plett, Ella Ferris, Baeya Hyde #countrymusic #band #trending #tiktokmusic #supportlocalmusic #canadian #manitoba ♬ original sound - Third Wheel Drive
Although there is no plan to change their name, the group recently welcomed a fourth member into the group in fellow grade-niner Reese Routhier.