Country music artists came together over the weekend to raise funds and lifts spirits at the Humboldt Broncos Tribute Concert at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

The concert featured country artists Dallas Smith, Jess Moskaluke, Brett Kissel, Gord Bamford, Chad Brownlee, and Shaunavon’s Hunter Brothers performing to raise funds for the team.

JJ Hunter is one of the five Hunter Brothers and said that the concert was great and that the attendance was fantastic.

“The people of Saskatchewan and beyond came out to support the families of the Humboldt Broncos and the organization extremely well,” he said. “It’s hard to ignore the fact that you have rows in the front of families that have, within the last month lost sons, daughters, husbands, and it was a tough concert on that end."

To go along with the country artists in performing the event also featured many former and current NHLers including Sean Monahan, Shea Weber, Mike Modano, and Lanny McDonald as well as some Saskatchewan hockey players such as Colby Armstrong, Haley Wickenheiser, and Todd Mclellan.

Hunter said that atmosphere during the concert was amazing.

"The response was fantastic, there was singing, there was clapping people dancing, and it was a fantastic atmosphere," he said. "There were some tears shed too. For us in our set looking down to those front rows of people that were directly affected by the tragedy, it is tough, and there were definitely some tearful moments as well."

Hunter said that the accident hit close to home as not only are they from small-town Saskatchewan but also because all of the brothers have previously played hockey in the American Hockey League, Western Hockey League, or Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and spent significant time on buses.

"When we heard the very first night the bus had crashed immediately what comes to mind is 'Wow that could have been us,'" he said. "All five of us boys played hockey, two of us played in the SJHL. For us being hockey players we can even visualize it, and hearing stories of the guys that survived what they were doing at that moment on the bus it makes total sense because we did a 1000 times on bus trips. Getting close to your destination, and start getting ready to get off the bus to get ready for the game. All of those things run through your mind."

Country Music Thunder put on the event and said all the proceeds from the event go to the families affected by the crash, but Hunter said that it wasn't all about the funds raised from the concert but about uplifting the mood and providing entertainment to those who are grieving.

"The funds raised are great, and we were thankful and happy to be part of that," he said. "I think more than a that is maybe the fact that the families have gone through a tremendous amount of heartache and tragedy and funerals and a lot of tough days, and there's going to be a lot of tough days ahead, but for one evening we wanted to provide some light and some happiness and some smiles, with singing and music. Even if it was for a few minutes or a few hours we were able to bring some happiness, I think that was kind of the hope of the whole event."

Hunter added that it was also special to see a visual representation of the support for the Broncos.

"We've seen it through the Go Fund Me, and with the funerals, the number of people that have come out, but an event such as this when you see that many thousands of people come out and that many representatives from the NHL teams and people from across Canada come out, the support it really was an outpouring saying we care about you, we love you, we're hurting along with you."

The brothers performed some of their hits as well as some covers but were able to do a special tribute with one of their songs.

"We played our current single 'Those Were the Nights,'" he said. "We thought that it was fitting as it's kind of a reflection song as we think back to memories of your childhood or back to your first love, and whatever those memories were that you had of the past, and that was something that we wanted to bring forward right away. We had the members of the Humboldt Broncos organization and the families send pictures of their memories, so there are pictures of the boys on tractors or playing hockey that was played in the background as we played, and it was a special moment for us to be a part of hopefully bringing back some wonderful memories that those family shared with their loved ones."

The Brothers also played their songs ‘Born and Raised,’ ‘Where I Wanna Live When I Die,’ a cover of the Little Big Town song ‘Boondocks,’ and 'Amazing Grace' which all carried a theme."

"For us, we wanted there to be some continuity with our set in the sense that it talked about how we were brought up and where we were from," he said. "As we celebrated the lives of these amazing people, we wanted to bring to memory of how they were born and raised, the fact that we all have that memory, that background of the people and the places and the experiences that raised us."

Hunter added that they were in the middle of a tour in Ontario, before the concert, where they saw the support for the Broncos nationwide first hand.

"The concert in Saskatoon landed right in the middle of our Ontario tour, we had been travelling from city to city, all the way along at every concert we did a tribute song to the Broncos and the outpouring of support from people right across Canada. It was as horrible a tragedy as there is, and hopefully something like this never happens again, you hope anyway, but it was special to see the love and support. We witnessed the Go Fund Me amount that was raised, but we really did see it first hand how much the nation does care and that was pretty special."

Hunter said that they hope they were able to show the how much the nation supports the Broncos.

"We can never know exactly what they're going through, but we sure can imagine it, and so from our perspective, we wanted to do the very best job we possibly could for their benefit, and that was running through our minds," he said. "Also what was running through our minds was that these people are walking through one of the worst heartaches you could imagine on this earth, and so we wanted to be mindful of that as well. We knew Darcy Haugan. Looking down into the crowd was Darcy Haugan's wife. There were tears that we shed, it was tough. It was a really bittersweet evening, it was wonderful, it was challenging, it was heartbreaking, and hopefully, in a way, it was able to show them how much we do care."

Hunter added that going forward they would love to be able to support the families of the 16 who passed away whenever possible and needed.