Imagine a house concert with the walls blown out to fit a few more guests, and then add a beautiful winter-spring night in an idyllic out of the way setting. Mix in Saskatchewan hospitality and an immense musical talent, and you’d have the first ever concert at the Carlton Trail Ski Clubhouse near Dixon. Saskatoon based singer-songwriter Amanda Hagel performed at the venue on Monday night to a packed house.

Hagel originally hails from the Lancer area is western Saskatchewan. From a musical family, Hagel recalled tales of growing up with music around her and eight siblings who all participated in sing-alongs, impromptu concerts, and church choirs. Growing up immersed in country and gospel classics, it’s easy to see how her original songs bear a stamp that echoes those timeless melodies. A gifted guitarist and an engaging storyteller, Hagel had her audience laughing and singing along at points of the evening. During other sections, they were whisper quiet, enchanted by the images, lyrics and the soaring vocals. 

Hagel’s own songs are embedded in family and the land she grew up on. The hauntingly beautiful “Angel Lullaby” was inspired by her mother, who tragically succumbed to cancer in 2022. One of her latest singles, “These Roots” acts as a tribute to the homestead heritage of many Saskatchewan born folk. The song has been gaining traction in Canada and in the States. Hagel says the video was shot on a warm August afternoon just off Highway 5 between Saskatoon and Humboldt. 

“”These Roots’ is about the roots, the foundation that we’ve all been raised with - this foundation of living in this rural, prairie setting with family, with faith, with a foundation of love. I felt compelled to write it. I had gone to the family farm that summer, and as things decay and nature starts to take over, I was filled with sadness, but I began to think about all the beauty that I had in my childhood growing up.”

Hagel released an album of her favourite covers, and she touched on some of those releases, along with others, on Monday night. Among them was a stirring, folk-inspired rendition of John Denver’s “Country Roads”, Dolly Parton’s timeless “Coat of Many Colours”, and a turn at the Patsy Cline gem “Crazy.” 

In another artistic incarnation, Hagel has been known to don a disco wig and belt out some 80’s classics with a Saskatoon cover band. She pulled out Cher’s dance number, “If I Could Turn Back Time” and gave it an acoustic treatment. Hagel’s voice is alternately rich and robust, and soaring and angelic, often in the same number. Original uptempo country kickers like “Dirty Up Good” and “What Brand of Country Are You” demonstrate her humour. The songs lose nothing in the translation from full band to solo acoustic. 

“When songs are personal and written from the heart, they take off and find their way to the people who need to hear them,” Hagel maintains. She invites listeners to live their most authentic lives in the personal anthem “Be the Light.” The song “Her Own Drum”, inspired by a childhood drawing she crafted, had Hagel delivering an up-tempo celebration of independence and courage.

The audience laughed, sang, clapped and hung on each of her stories, all of which created a sense of warmth and welcome that only someone’s really large kitchen could offer. 

The concert was a fundraiser for the Carlton Trail Ski Club, and judging by the response to Amanda Hagel’s offering, it will be the first event of many. 

You can find more about Amanda and her music at amandahagel.com.