White Rock-based singer Michelle Reid says she's found a happy place creating a "thoroughly authentic Shania experience."

The singer – a seasoned professional on the Vancouver scene â€“ co-created the Shania Twain tribute act Totally Twain with her husband, bassist Wally Kozakow (plus her guitarist brother Steve Goodall, drummer Kevan Van Keith and fiddler Katie Stewart) in 2021.

The timing was just right – ever since the lifting of COVID-related bans on live performances, the act has been riding a wave of popularity that has seen it take on three successful tours of Alberta, and performances all across B.C., which have won it acclaim as "Canada's number one Shania tribute."

People of all ages drawn to Reid's evocation of Twain's enduring appeal – a blend of eminently danceable beats, melodic crossover country-pop and a forthright, interactive performance style – are in luck this weekend.

Totally Twain has been selected as the closing act for White Rock Sea Festival's Saturday night programme at P'Quals Memorial Park at the waterfront – playing from 7 p.m. until the beginning of the the Sea Festival Torchlight Parade at 8:30 p.m.

"There will be a lot of road closures because of the parade right after," Reid warned, but she agreed that people having a good time at the concert will likely want to stick around to watch the parade, too. 

She's truly thrilled for the act to be playing a hometown show, she said.

"The fact that we live in White Rock and that we got booked for Sea Festival – we're super-excited about it," she said. "It's very unusual for tribute acts to be booked for their own local festivals." 

The week after Sea Festival, for example, they'll be playing the Hilltop Resort at Grand Beach, Manitoba, Reid said.

Doing a tribute to Twain was an idea that had been floating around with her and Kozakow for a long time, Reid said, but the closing down of the music scene due to COVID focused her attention – as it did for a lot of other musicians – on what could and should be done once conditions returned to some semblance of normality.

She and Kozakow have two other musical projects that they are continuing in tandem with Totally Twain, she noted, including their long-established duo, Two of a Kind, and a new four-piece rock and pop band, Melody Kings.

But the Twain tribute has been a "natural" for her, she added.    

"I followed Shania in the '90s, and I started singing a few of her songs around 15 years ago in various cover bands," she recalled.

"I realized that her vocal tonal quality aligned with my own voice. I thought 'I can sing this material – it feels natural.'" 

"I can honestly say there hasn't been a day since we started the act that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed singing every single song."

Reid said she and the band worked very hard during COVID at perfecting Totally Twain, setting the the bar high for a very tight, disciplined "high-end 'Vegas-style'" act with costume changes and enough of Twain's hits – including classics like That Don't Impress Me Much, Any Man of Mine and Man I Feel Like A Woman – for two one-hour shows.

Exceptionally well-executed music and her emphasis on entertaining a crowd have meant nary a show when the floor hasn't been packed with dancers of all ages, Reid said.

"During COVID, a lot of people revamped themselves, and some dropped off the screen altogether," she said. "But we've been really lucky.

"On April 9, 2022 – the first day the vaccine passport was discontinued – we sold our first show out; 400 tickets at the Cloverdale Legion."

And that public support has only strengthened, she added.

"Since we started Totally Twain, a couple of other Shania acts have come on the scene – that does tend to water the market down a bit," she said.

"But we're concentrating on doing what we do, which is keeping the calibre high. And we're also looking at doing some international tours, including possibilities in the Philippines and Australia."