Scott Roos
Special to the Herald
After a year defined by awards, international touring, and new music, Saskatchewan bluegrass/rockabilly sensation Jake Vaadeland is bringing his holiday show back to Prince Albert.
Vaadeland and his band, The Sturgeon River Boys, will take the stage at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre on Sunday, Dec. 14 with their festive production Goodness Gracious, It’s Christmas! – a show that will surely become a seasonal favourite across Western Canada (if it isn’t already).
For Vaadeland, Prince Albert feels like part of a wider network of “home” communities.
“I kind of just have home areas almost wrapped up in towns. It’s Big River, Debden, Prince Albert, Cut Knife, you know, it’s all (home).”
The 2025 holiday tour kicked off in Cut Knife, where the band also handled a full production day.
“We did our first show there (just in the past week). We sold it right out. (People from the town) were saying they hadn’t seen the theatre that full since the 80s or 90s… so we had a lot of people saying that it was really nice to see it back like it used to be.”
This year’s tour follows the release of Vaadeland’s six-track holiday EP, Goodness Gracious, It’s Christmas!, which blends live recordings from last year’s tour with studio cuts of “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem.”
Fans attending the Prince Albert show can expect those same songs – plus several new additions.
“We’re going to include all those again because that’s a new release… but we also added in some new stuff, new Christmas stuff too, to the show.”
Vaadeland says he wanted a better balance between Christmas material and his original catalogue.
“Last year… there were only, I guess, six Christmas songs in the entire show… I wanted to create more of a balance… because you got some people that want to… have more Christmas songs and then you got other people that thank you for still doing your originals.”
He also hinted at some unexpected twists.
“Even though they are covers of Christmas songs, they are different… there’s some songs that we’re throwing in… I can’t find anybody else that has done it that way… and then same with another popular Christmas song… we’ve sped up and done more kind of like a Lester Flatt bluegrass style.”
Fans can still expect the hits – the songs Vaadeland “can’t leave the building without playing.”
“People still do want to come and hear the songs that we do too, like ‘I Ain’t Going Back To Nashville’ and “Be A Farmer Or a Preacher’ and all that… but then we’re putting in a little more Christmas this year too.”
Despite a rapid rise – JUNO Award, CCMA Award, Western Canadian Music Award, Road Gold Certification and multiple SCMA awards – Vaadeland is careful about pacing his career.
“A steady rate of growth is probably the safest way… I want to make sure I’m 92 someday, and still making a living… I’m very grateful that it’s coming so quickly… it is really what I want to do for as many years as possible.”
The holiday tour once again features a full vintage-inspired stage set, which Vaadeland personally assembled.
“I went and scouted out all those pieces like a clock and a mantle and a radio… it’s a real chair… the Christmas tree, I went and bought that brand new at Walmart… we as a band actually put effort into it… we’re holding that everywhere ourselves and setting that up… I’m passionate about (the stage set) and decorating and all that.”
Prince Albert audiences will be treated to that attention to detail as well as Vaadeland’s infectious energy – and plenty of Christmas spirit – when the band hits the Rawlinson stage on Dec. 14.
