Dan Cugnet's country album "Rodeo Cabaret" dropped in November of 2021, and was streamed more than 10,000 times within the first month.

A collaboration with Producer Bart McKay helped line up all the right musicians to complete the album, which is a tip of the ol' cowboy hat to the "torch and twang", while also featuring a variety of up-and-comers to share the spotlight.

"I've been lucky enough to get connected with a guy like Bart and tap into all of his years, and all of his network. So it's been really cool. [The musicians] are phenomenal, so just even being able to tap into into what each one of those people can do with their talent, the amount of work, and the time, and energy that they they put in, and what the feel that they bring to it too, right? Whether it's Ryan Davidson on the guitar on on these tunes, you know he's amazing. And Chad Melchert's the guy on the drums and Travis Switzer's the guy on the bass."

Bart McKay, he noted, plays organ and keys, as he once did for the Johner Brothers.

"And then the you know the folks that are on the like fiddle and mandolin and harmonica, like they're in Nashville," he shared. "So that's another thing with the technology, it would have been who's available in a geography, 15 or 20 years ago, or who can you afford to bring in? Where now you've got so many people with home studios, it's like okay, well, this is who we can get on this. There's not the travel costs or the time or the commitment and send it to them and they can do it and send it back so you can have world class players and musicians to lay down their part for a song or two or three, which is amazing, right? Like it's absolutely amazing." 

He said while he is on a first name basis with the mandolin player on his album, he can't just call her up and thank her for her contribution.

"But I mean, that's their bread and butter. A lot of it, if they're not touring, is just doing the studio stuff and working with all these producers everywhere." 

Cugnet said he hopes to get a limited edition vinyl printing done of the album so there can be liner notes with all the proper credits given to each of the musicians and back-up vocalists.

"Everybody that's on it and what they brought to it, in their own feel, or their own vibe," he added. 

He said over the past 20 months it's been a good way to take his hobby to the next level.

"Embrace it more, and enjoy it more, and try and do something with it, too, in lieu of being able to do other stuff, like I love traveling," Cugnet shared. "I think life should be interesting, you know, and I'm a firm believer that people are allowed to have second and third and fourth and fifth acts if they want to, right?"

He said growing up in Weyburn meant having exposure to real musical performance opportunities, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, 

"It's pretty inspirational. My daughter and and her group of performers [Spirit of Grace singers], the stuff that like Colleen [Weimer] and Kendra [Gonczy], I go to the shows and The Little Mermaid and see what they do, and it's like man, that's amazing. Or you know, it's like wow, we got Tenille Arts from here, who's, you know, killing it down there right now [in Nashville], you know. And so I think there's so much talent and I'd just like to see it used."

"Even in Saskatchewan there's some real interesting musicians right now that you know west to here like Kacy and Clayton, it's like they're doing their own thing. It's a really different sound. And you've got the Belle Plaines, and Blake Berglunds, then you know go a little farther west and you know Colter Wall is killing it. The guy's got songs on Yellowstone, and it's like the biggest show in North America. I love to see people from the prairies that are doing their own thing and and doing well at it, right? And whatever that is."

Cugnet, who recently took a trip down to Nashville, TN, himself, added he is already working on a second album with producer Bart McKay.

Read more: Snapshots of Stories: Dan Cugnet Shares on Country Album, "Rodeo Cabaret"