Brett Kissel to show city a side they’ve never seen

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on November 6, 2024.

Submitted photo Canadian country star and Albertan Brett Kissel hits the Yates Centre on Nov. 12 when his cross-country tour makes a stop in Lethbridge.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Canadian country star and Albertan Brett Kissel is ready to show a Lethbridge audience “The Side You’ve Never Seen” when his cross-country tour hits the Yates Centre on Nov. 12.

The 34-year-old Kissel has racked up an impressive collection of awards since he first started singing professionally at the age of 12. The fifth generation Alberta farm kid has racked up 22 Canadian Country Music Awards, three Juno awards, two gold albums, 10 gold singles and four platinum singles in his career.

His last visit to southern Alberta was in 2023 when he played in Cardston while touring his Compass Project albums.

Fans should expect this tour to live up to its name because the acoustic concerts probably won’t have a set list.

Each night Kissel will be taking the tour “moment by moment” instead of city by city, he said in a Wednesday interview.

“I can figure out what the crowd really wants in that moment and play something for them that’s going to fit the mood. I know I’ve got a great catalog of songs that I can choose from” ranging from covers he grew up singing to new songs he wants to try out, Kissel said.

“I want to make sure that I have complete creative freedom to do something unique and specific to that show, that city and that moment.”

The ambitious tour will have dozens of dates starting Saturday at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino in Calgary. After hitting venues in B.C. the tour comes back to Alberta starting with the Yates show before heading north to various communities including Sherwood Park, Fort McMurray and Camrose. He then heads east to Saskatchewan and Manitoba before returning to Alberta for two final shows before Christmas in St. Albert.

The tour’s concept came up after Kissel sold out three acoustic shows in Ontario.

“This tour is going to be really unique and really special,” Kissel said.

“In all of my concerts that I’ve done over the past 10 or 15 years I’ve taken a moment to pause and play just a couple of songs with just me and my guitar but I’ve enjoyed that aspect so much that without question I needed to do an entire tour, an entire night,” Kissel said.

After the Ontario sellouts, Kissel and his agent thought that maybe they were onto something and “now we’ve got a robust tour that’s almost 50 shows all across Canada so I’m really proud of that.”

The concerts will have “no glitz, no glamour,” just songs, stories, magic and memories, he said.

“It’s going to be really fun,” added the artist.