Jess Moskaluke to make Opry debut as part of CCMA’s 50th birthday celebration

EDMONTON – Jess Moskaluke’s childhood dreams are about to come true, and she simply can’t stop crying.

The singer from small-town Saskatchewan has performed plenty of times, though none has felt quite as monumental as the one she’s about to embark on Thursday night.

“I’m probably a little dramatic about it, but it’s just something that I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl and didn’t think was ever going to happen for me,” she said in a recent interview.

Thousands of TV viewers watched last month’s Canadian Country Music Awards as Moskaluke, flanked by radio personality Shannon Ella, fell to her knees and sobbed as she was invited to make her debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

Afterward, the self-professed popcorn lover went backstage, snagged a large bag of the cinema snack and went out to celebrate before clocking in for her other full-time job — as mom.

“I didn’t stay out all night, but I definitely did go home to change a dirty diaper,” said Moskaluke, whose son Tripp was born in May.

Moskaluke’s two-song set at the Opry, known as the show that made country music famous, comes as the Canadian Country Music Association celebrates its 50th birthday.

The Thursday broadcast, the association says, brings together generations of all-Canadian acts to showcase the “special place Canadian country music holds” in the industry.

The Opry’s connection to Canada dates back decades to hitmakers such as Hank Snow, the so-called singing ranger from Nova Scotia who joined the organization in 1950.

Though membership, considered one of country music’s highest honours, remains largely elusive to Canadians. Snow was a member until his death in 1999, after which Alberta’s Terri Clark became its sole Canadian member upon her induction in 2004.

Clark, along with other singers raised on the Prairies — like Paul Brandt, Brett Kissel and Tenille Arts — are also set to perform Thursday.

Moskaluke said she still doesn’t know how the Opry drew her straw.

“I still don’t know how they picked me, why they picked me, what they heard, how they heard of me,” she said in an interview from her home in Rocanville, Sask., population 889.

“All I can hope is that (the audiences) like the songs and they like my voice and think that I would be a good representative (of Canada) on their stage.”

The 36-year-old has been in the country music game a long time. She picked up music in her mid-teens through church choirs, talent shows and appearances on local radio stations.

She thought about working in corrections or as a beautician. But at 21, she won a contest that later led to her first CCMA Award and an appearance at the 2012 CMA Music Festival in Nashville.

And her debut single “Catch Me If You Can” — about breaking down life’s walls to chase her dreams — made it onto Canadian country music charts.

Fast forward to now, and she’s won several awards, charted with hits like “Cheap Wine And Cigarettes,” and performed with the likes of Brandt and Alan Doyle.

Over the years, Moskaluke says her music, and she herself, have done a lot of growing up. Now the music flows naturally, and she won’t release a song without her personal stamp of approval.

“I’ve always said that the best song wins and I would never put out a song if I didn’t believe in it or if I didn’t feel like it resonated with me some way,” she said.

Moskaluke’s Opry performance also comes amid a diplomatic discord.

The ongoing trade war between Canada and the United States has seen American lawmakers push back against Canadian content rules for streaming giants.

Meanwhile, Spotify data from last year showed Canadian and French-Canadian country music had a sustained boost in popularity, and argues streaming was helping artists reach new audiences.

Moskaluke said despite recent tensions, Nashville has given her no snide remarks about being Canadian. And while she doesn’t live in Music City, the wider country circle has been welcoming, she said.

At one-time, Canadians might not have been taken as seriously in Nashville, though she said that tide is turning — largely through the internet.

“I know that there’s a lot of Canadians in the States that are having some success on both sides of the border,” Moskaluke said, noting Alberta’s Tenille Townes as an example.

“She’s kind of broken that wall down and she’s been able to be successful on both sides.”

As the clock ticks down to Moskaluke stepping into the Opry’s legendary microphone circle — sawed from the floor of its historic home at the Ryman Auditorium — the mental battle heats up.

She said she’s spent much of the last month in rehearsals. She’s also gone through box after box of tissues, but hopes she won’t need them Thursday night.

“It’s going to be more important in that moment than ever to just be like, ‘Don’t cry, hit the notes, try not to stumble over your words, get in, enjoy it, and get out with grace,'” she said.

“Grand Ole Opry: Celebrating 50 Years of the CCMA” will be broadcast on WSM Radio on Thursday.

It will air across Canada on the Pure Country radio network on Nov. 6.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2026.