Blue Ridge Band Wins Top of the Country 2026: Meet the Three Finalists

Blue Ridge Band won the 2026 SiriusXM Top of the Country competition, with Morgan Griffiths and Shawnee Kish named runners-up. SiriusXM Canada and the Canadian Country Music Association announced the result on September 17, following the previous night’s finale in Saskatoon. The Quebec trio received the $25,000 grand prize; Griffiths and Kish each received $10,000. For listeners discovering the names through that announcement, the next stop is the music.

What Top of the Country tells us

The program gives emerging Canadian country acts a route through recorded performances, fan voting, mentorship and festival appearances. This year, eight semifinalists recorded original songs and videos before a public vote selected the final three. The finalists went on to opportunities at events including CMA Fest in Nashville and LASSO Montréal before the Saskatoon finale, according to the organizers’ September 17 announcement.

The result offers a useful discovery list across three provinces: Blue Ridge Band from Lévis, Quebec; Griffiths from Abbotsford, British Columbia; and Kish representing Edmonton, Alberta. The competition is a specific recognition within the Canadian country calendar. Its winner and runners-up should be identified separately from the CCMA Awards categories.

Blue Ridge Band: start with One More Story

Blue Ridge Band brings together Jérémy Plante, Samuel Jalbert-Raymond and Martin Aubin. Their recording history includes the two Down to Business EPs and the album High On You. That gives anyone arriving at the competition result an existing catalog to explore, rather than a single announcement to follow.

Start with the One More Story performance on SiriusXM’s artist page. The band’s official website also features the song’s music video, links to High On You and the single Loving You is Easy. High On You arrived on September 26, 2025, as the site’s French biography makes explicit; the new development is this month’s competition win.

Morgan Griffiths: follow Bourbon into the catalog

Morgan Griffiths has another connection to the Canadian awards conversation: Bourbon appears among the 2026 CCMA Single of the Year nominees, while Griffiths is listed for Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year and Fans’ Choice. These are nominations recorded on the association’s official list, distinct from his confirmed runner-up result here.

His SiriusXM performance of Bourbon is a direct first listen. His official site points onward to Bourbon (Acoustic) and Just Being Me. Moving between the performance and the other releases gives newcomers more context than the award category alone.

Shawnee Kish: a new country chapter

Shawnee Kish enters this story with an established recording history. Her official music page lists the 2021 self-titled release, Revolution from 2023 and Chapter 1 from 2025. Her biography describes that last project as her move into country, and Chapter 1 is a 2026 CCMA Alternative Country Album of the Year nominee.

The first stop is Ride at Dawn on her SiriusXM page, followed by Chapter 1 through her official music page. Earlier recordings are listed there too. That longer view matters: an artist can be gaining a new country audience while already having years of work behind them.

A three-song starting queue

• Blue Ridge Band — One More Story: start with the official competition performance, then explore High On You.
• Morgan Griffiths — Bourbon: follow the session with the acoustic version linked from his own site.
• Shawnee Kish — Ride at Dawn: continue into Chapter 1 and the earlier projects in her discography.

Next Up follows the artists behind the announcement. These three performances offer a practical introduction now; new releases and officially announced shows will provide the next reasons to return. Explore the linked profiles for the verified background and artist-owned listening routes behind this dispatch.