Garth Brooks guitar owner pitches novel idea to repay favour

Three years after nabbing a once-in-a-lifetime item from a Garth Brooks show in Saskatoon, a young country music fan and his brother have a chance to see the superstar a second time — and maybe use it as a chance to return the favour.

Curren and Jayce Wintonyk-Pilot were at their first-ever concert when Brooks played Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre in June 2016. They brought along their handmade “My First Concert” poster, unaware they had landed seats six rows from the main stage.

During the show, Brooks apparently spotted the poster, singled them out and decided to give them the guitar he was playing.

“That was the whole main reason that Garth gave us the guitar, because it was our first concert,” said Curren, the elder of the brothers. “He looked at his guitar and took off the strap, and by that time the whole stadium is going crazy — they’re going bazonkers.”

In late May, Brooks announced he’ll play Regina’s Mosaic Stadium on Aug. 10, but the Wintonyk-Pilots missed out on tickets to that show.

But they have a chance to get another set: Brooks announced a second show Monday morning, set for Aug. 9.

In June of 2016, Brooks was playing his second show of the night, among a set of six over four days in the Bridge City. The Wintonyk-Pilots caught the later show on the Friday night.

Curren recalled the energy and intensity Brooks brought to the stage.

“I couldn’t believe that he actually could pull that off — and that he just had some level of energy that I couldn’t imagine someone else could have,” Curren said. “Everyone was involved, everyone was dancing. It was loud; he was moving around the stage, jumping up and down.”

When Brooks decided to hand over his guitar, he had one condition, Curren said.

“He would give me the guitar, but I would have to invite him to my first concert,” the teen recalled.

Now 15 years old, Curren hasn’t yet mastered the guitar or and isn’t ready to put on a concert, but he does have an alternative suggestion for Brooks — a hockey game.

“It could be his bandmates versus some of my teammates. We could play a hockey game, and I could make that up to him,” Curren said.

Curren’s set to play his first season for the Battlefords Stars of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League this fall.

“I’m going to challenge him to a hockey game, and I could set it up. We could do it to raise money for (Saskatoon’s) Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League, and inner city youth,” he said.

He’ll wait and see if Brooks responds to the challenge.

In the meantime, Curren said even if he and his family don’t get tickets to the second Regina show, he’s grateful for the experience in 2016. It was his first introduction to country.

Now, singers like Brooks and Keith Urban are part of his regular playlist.

“Just try it out,” Curren suggested to people skeptical of the genre. “There’s something there for everyone.”

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Daniella Ponticelli