'Dreams come true': Brothers from Garden River join Shania Twain on stage

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared on SooToday on June 23. It is being republished for readers who may have missed it.

A pair of brothers from Garden River First Nation recently shared a stage with the best-selling female country artist of all time — and it’s all thanks to the power of social media.  

Dan and Dave Jones are Shania Twain superfans, having travelled to dozens of her concerts in Canada and the United States over the years. 

Prior to Twain’s stop in London, Ont. for the Queen of Me Tour, Dan took a shot in the dark by jumping on Instagram and asking the award-winning country singer if she would bring the Jones brothers up on stage for a second time. The pair joined Twain on stage back in 2012, and Dan thought it would be fitting to have somewhat of a reunion on stage more than a decade later — on National Indigenous Peoples Day.   

“Please make our dreams come true and have us waking up dreaming on Wednesday morning!” Jones pleaded with Twain in his post. 

Dan’s wish of joining his musical idol on stage once again would come true Wednesday night during Twain’s performance in London.    

“I saw a post tonight on Instagram from somebody named Dan Jones,” Twain said before reading a snippet of his social media post, which spoke of the brothers’ Ojibway heritage.  

“That is so fabulous. I am also from an Ojibway family,” Twain said. 

Twain continued to read Dan’s Instagram post when he suddenly appeared on the stage, clearly surprising the Canadian singer-songwriter.   

“Oh, you’re here!” Twain said before sharing an embrace with both Dan and Dave on stage. 

Sault Ste. Marie city council member Angela Caputo happened to be watching all of this go down from the second row of the concert and shared photos and videos of the interaction with SooToday. 

“It was so funny because Dan, as soon as she started reading it, got up out of his seat and started walking to the stage before she even called him,” Caputo said with a laugh. “By the time she turned her head she was like: ‘Oh wow, you’re here!’ and he was up on stage — him and his brother Dave were on stage with her,” said Caputo. “It was pretty awesome.”

The brothers would sing the chorus from Twain’s hit Forever and Always, prompting some audience members to sing along with them. 

They even managed to get a selfie with Twain before leaving the stage. 

“She took the time to make us feel welcome and joke with us,” Dan told SooToday when reached by telephone Friday. “I got so many messages from friends who were at the show. They were like, ‘you guys were the highlight, it was awesome!’ It was pretty freaking cool — I can say that my lifetime idol made that moment happen through the power of social media.”

Dan, who was sporting shorts, cowboy boots and a top hat for the show, said the outfit is far from his day-to-day attire.  

“You see so much leopard and top hats and cowboy hats, I think people really turn it up for her,” he said. “I think it’s amazing.”

Dan and Dave are the co-founders of Turtle Concepts, a business in Garden River that uses tools like motivational speaking and workshops to instill self-esteem and confidence in others. 

“I think because what my brother and I do for work is empowering people, she’s able to recharge those batteries in a way that a day at home binging on Netflix can’t,” Dan said when asked about his love for Shania Twain. “I’m a big energy guy, and she knows how to charge my little batteries up — and it’s worth it every time.”

“She allows people to embrace their individuality.”

By the time the Queen of Me Tour wraps up, the brothers will have taken in more than 70 Shania Twain concerts between the two of them. 

Dan will be in Toronto for Twain’s next tour stops, taking place Friday and Saturday at Budweiser Gardens.  

“There’s a sense of empowerment anytime you’re in a room with Shania Twain. It’s mind blowing,” he said.