By Carlie Connolly/News staff
Canadian country sensation Brett Kissel will be in Sidney for the first time to perform some of his hit songs, giving us a sneak preview of his new album Pick Me Up, which will hit stands on Sept. 11.
Life has been quite the ride for this Flat Lake, Alberta resident who is now residing in Nashville, Tenessee. With a new record on the way, Kissel talks life on the road, performing at his dream venue and his new bundle of joy arriving in February 2016.
Kissel, who has some family in Nanaimo, has never been out to Sidney and says he is excited for the opportunity.
“We’ve played some amazing shows and made some great friendships along the way so we’re going to be fresh off the summer tour when we come out there (west coast) and we’re going to be very excited to just get some west coast vibes into our system,” he told the PNR.
As for his favourite song to perform on the album, Kissel says its all about the crowd for him.
Travelling coast to coast across Canada, he and the band are happy to take a step back and play in the intimate setting of Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre.
“We’ve played so many gigs this summer, we are really looking forward to the opportunity to play an intimate setting and a great theatre. For us, its going to be a great highlight for our summer tour to wrap up in that type of setting because we get to tell a lot more stories when we play to an intimate crowd and we also get an opportunity to play some songs that we don’t do in the real, rowdy live show that we do when we’re playing the big festivals.”
Kissel recently released the title of his new album, called Pick Me Up, giving Sidney an early taste of some of the new songs on the record to be released Sept. 11.
“We really pulled out all the stops when it came to producing this and calling in a lot of favours for some incredible musicians to be a part of this new record and we learned a lot of lessons off of my first major label debut on Warner Music and now that we have an opportunity to learn those lessons and harness some of the great energy from our live show, we feel that this album is really going to blow people away.”
Not only will September be the release of his new album, but Kissel will be performing for his first time at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, a dream come true for many country musicians. The Opry has seen big names like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley become members and Kissel says he feels honoured.
“It’s been a dream. I think anyone getting into the business of country music understands the importance of the Grand Ole Opry for what it’s done to launch the careers and be such a major stepping stone for anyone who’s anyone in the country music business.
“For me to get this chance and this invitation to go and play is arguably the biggest thing that I’ll ever do in my career.”
Setting the music part of his life to the side, Kissel and his wife Cecilia are expecting a baby on Feb. 2, 2016 and Kissel could not be happier to be a dad. The couple wanted to be young parents, he said, and start a family over the next few years. He said they are excited for the future. The gender is yet to be told.
With his tour across Canada, just shy of 50 concerts from coast to coast, Kissel is looking forward to his busy year, and it’s 3-2-1, we’re counting down the hours till he will arrive in Sidney.
“It’s going to be a unique tour and a truly Canadian tour and that’s going to keep us very busy leading up to Christmas time and then we’ve got a little bit of time off to welcome the new baby in the new year.”
