Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys. (Submitted)

By Nigel Maxwell

Festive season

Goodness Gracious: Jake Vaadeland makes holiday stop in Prince Albert

Dec 13, 2025 | 12:00 PM

Fresh off a tour of the United States and Europe, Saskatchewan’s Jake Vaadeland is coming home for Christmas.

Sunday night’s festive themed show at the EA Rawlinson Centre is part of 22 tour dates across Canada for the musician from Cut Knife.

“We have a whole stage set coming with us too, and we set that all up and sorta bring my own version of Christmas with me,” Vaadeland explained.

Recorded during last year’s Christmas tour with his band, The Sturgeon River Boys, Vaadeland’s recent Christmas album features live renditions of seasonal staples, including Jingle Bells and Run Rudolph Run, along with studio versions of Jingle Bell Rock and Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. Sunday’s show will also include some new songs.

While acknowledging Christmas was always a special time for his family, Vaadeland said making a holiday album was never on his priority list.

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“I definitely don’t wanna become a Bing Crosby known for being the Christmas guy but it was a good branding and people really like it and it’s something different,” he said.

2025 has been a very good year for Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys.

He earned his first JUNO Award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year and a CCMA Award for Alternative Country Album of the Year. He also received a Western Canadian Music Award for Roots Artist of the Year, Road Gold Certification for 25,000 tickets sold across Canada within 12 months, and a number of awards during last month’s Saskatchewan Country Music Awards.

“I think that’s more exciting for other people than it is for me because I just enjoy playing,” he said.

In early 2026, Vandeland will continue expanding his international reach with tour dates in Norway, Sweden, and Belgium, along with return shows in Denmark and the Netherlands — hitting a career milestone of more than 50,000 tickets sold worldwide across ten countries.

“I’m never satisfied, I always want to play for as many communities as possible and go all over the place to the point where I’ll exhaust myself in order to do it.”

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

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