CANADA ROCKS! is a celebration of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pop and rock songwriters, musicians and singers. It is a full-length production that was performed in the 2005 and 2006 season of the

Charlottetown Festival The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which runs from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. Named after its host city Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and its Charlottetown Conference, since its inc ...

, hosted by the

Confederation Centre of the Arts Confederation Centre of the Arts (french: Centre des arts de la Confédération) is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. History Construction of Confeder ...

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. The production featured Atlantic Canadian blues artist

Matt Minglewood Matt Minglewood (born Roy Alexander Batherson, January 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician whose style can be described as a blend of country, blues, folk, roots and rock. The name "Matt" was borrowed from his brother, Matt Batherson. Career B ...

, former

Rawlins Cross Rawlins Cross is a Celtic band that formed in 1988 in Atlantic Canada. With members from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, the band took its name from an intersection in St. John's, Newfoundland. Formation and ea ...

vocalist Joey Kitson and vocalist Terry Hatty. Canada Rocks! was created by Doug Gallant, Wade Lynch, Hank Stinson and Terry Hatty. The production was workshopped at the Charlottetown Festival's David MacKenzie Theatre in 2004 to overwhelmingly positive response and brought to the festival's main stage the following season. The show's creators considered more than 700 songs from 50 years of Canadian rock, pop, folk, country and traditional music before editing that list down to a more workable 200. In the end the show featured some 75 songs from artists as diverse as

Bachman–Turner Overdrive Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included five top-40 albums and six US top-40 single ...

Ron Hynes Ron Hynes (December 7, 1950 – November 19, 2015) was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. He was especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st ...

Buffy St. Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

, Dr. Music, Mandala and

The Rankins The Rankin Family (originally known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadia ...

. By the end of its second season at the festival in 2006 it had sold more than $1.2 million worth of tickets to become the second most successful musical in the festival's 40-plus year history, second only to Anne of Green Gables which has been playing since 1965. Three of the show's creators, Gallant, Lynch and Stinson, are currently collaborating on another musical property for the stage and have two others in waiting.

See also