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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParade Marshal Shania Twain rides a horse during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the bands I was in, we would\u2019ve dreamt to play the Horseshoe Tavern \u2026 Now I\u2019m playing there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Founded in 1947, the Horseshoe is one of Canada\u2019s most storied live music venues, serving as a launching pad for acts such as the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo and Barenaked Ladies.<\/p>\n
Twain\u2019s gig at the roughly 500-capacity venue follows a stretch of much larger performances, including 12 straight dates opening for pop star Harry Styles at London\u2019s Wembley Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the five-time Grammy winner says the intimate room fits with the reflective spirit of her new album, \u201cLittle Miss Twain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due July 24, Twain\u2019s seventh LP revisits her early days growing up in Timmins, Ont. and performing cover songs in small-town bars across the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in this really important moment of my life and of my career and of my songwriting where I\u2019m reflecting on Little Miss Twain, and that\u2019s the person that existed before I had a record contract, and before I went off into the big world of performing on big stages globally,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
Long before she became one of country music\u2019s biggest crossover artists, Twain says her mother recognized her talent early, bringing her to play in bars when she was as young as eight years old.<\/p>\n
Her Horseshoe debut, she says, will feel like a return to her roots, although there will be one key difference from the venues where she began her career \u2014 the haze of cigarette smoke will be gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was a kid, all the way through until I got my recording contract, our bars were all still smoking,\u201d Twain laughed. \u201cThe ceilings are low and they\u2019re full of smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says stepping back into that environment with a catalogue of her own songs, rather than covers, makes the experience especially meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bars back then were only hiring people (who would play) the Top 40s,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now I\u2019m coming back to a small bar with my own songwriting and my own stories. This is what makes it so powerful, such a powerful full circle and very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my own Top 40 setlist!\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n
Tickets for Twain\u2019s Horseshoe show went on sale Wednesday and sold out immediately.<\/p>\n
Ben Mol, a talent buyer for the Horseshoe, says playing the venue remains a rite of passage for many artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur stage has long been a beacon to artists new and old \u2014 a reachable goal that musicians can be proud to say they\u2019ve achieved,\u201d he wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get treated the same no matter who you are. It\u2019s one of the few remaining bars in downtown Toronto where you can sit down to a $5.75 20 oz pint and strike up a conversation with a filmmaker, an astronaut, a biker, a lawyer or a cop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, country star Keith Urban and rocker-rapper mgk played surprise sets at the tiny venue.<\/p>\n
Mol says the venue is ready for the heightened attention that comes with a sold-out appearance from one of Canada\u2019s biggest stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stanchions are stretched, and the beer is cold,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
For Twain, the milestone she once imagined as a plucky young performer has arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve finally made it to the Horseshoe,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 Shania Twain has sold out stadiums around the world, but she\u2019s about to check off a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-807386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}