London has a way of becoming the unofficial capital of Canadian country music whenever the wind blows just right across Southwestern Ontario. It is a city that thrives on the dirt-under-the-fingernails sincerity of the genre, and few artists have exploited that connection better than Brett Kissel. The Alberta-born singer is not just a musician; he is a brand built on the bedrock of Flat Lake family values and a relentless work ethic that would make a rig welder blush.
We are looking at a man who has managed to keep his boots on the ground while his head is spinning in the stratosphere of Garth Brooks-level fame. Kissel returns to the Forest City for a headlining slot at Park Jam on Sept. 6, just 48 hours before he is set to dominate the conversation at the Canadian Country Music Awards. It is a calculated, high-stakes homecoming for a guy who treats London like a second home.
The industry likes to talk about "the year of Kissel," but the reality is that he has been on a decade-long sprint. He has collected gold records like they are vintage hockey cards, and his trophy shelf is getting crowded enough to require structural reinforcement.
"You know what? It can’t," Kissel says when I suggest life might not get any better than this current run of Juno wins and Brooks tours. "It’s pretty amazing. I literally cannot believe it’s been as great as it’s been and I’m very thankful for that. You know what? We always have goals with what we want to achieve and the things we want to do and places we want to go, and I’m so thankful that everything has turned out in this way and we’ve been able to have the experiences that we’ve been able to have. It was very, very lucky."
But luck is the cheap word people use when they do not want to admit to the sheer labour involved. Kissel has played shows nearly every month this year. That kind of schedule is a meat grinder for any artist, let alone one who is balancing the demands of a growing family.
There is a specific kind of exhaustion that comes with the territory, a weariness that usually shows up in the eyes of performers by the third song of a set. Yet Kissel seems immune. He attributes this to a mindset that borders on the stubborn.
"In a lot of ways you would think that it is and I know that there’s difficulties to it, but you know what? I think the power of positive thinking always prevails for myself and for my wife Cecilia and our family," he says, leaning into the domestic side of his narrative.
And he is not just leaving the family at home while he chases the neon lights. The Kissel operation is a mobile unit. It is a travelling circus of strollers and soundchecks that keeps him grounded in a way that most solo acts miss.
"Number one, we do bring our family out a lot. We really do," Kissel explains. "I love having my family out on the road with us. We’ve been able to travel across Canada to every province and every territory and now most of the States together, and that’s very important to us. And then next is absence makes the heart grow fonder. So we know that we’ll do a lot of traveling, but I love what I do and I think it’s important for our children to see the passion that I have for my career and this great life that we’re all very lucky to live. And it’s people who work in the military or work in the RCMP or travel for work, it’s those jobs that I do believe are really, really tough and really hard. Whereas for me, I mean, I can’t complain about a thing."
It is a humble take, though one could argue that the psychological toll of performing for thousands is its own kind of heavy lifting. Still, Kissel is quick to deflect the "struggling artist" trope. He is too busy being a father of three.
The newest addition to the clan makes it a full house, or at least a very crowded tour bus. Alongside his wife Cecilia, Kissel is navigating the chaos of three young children and a canine companion that rounds out the roster.
"That’s right. We’ve got three little babies and of course we can’t forget about our wiener dog, Charlie," he says. "So it’s a pretty complete family here. We’ve got two daughters and a son."
But the question remains: is the Kissel factory closed for business? In an industry where personal lives are often curated for the Grammys, Kissel remains refreshingly honest about the uncertainty of the future.
I don’t know if we’re shutting the door on more kids or not, but when we had our first daughter, we loved her with all our heart, and our hearts grew when we had our second daughter, and then our hearts grew again when we had our son. I don’t know if our hearts can get any bigger than they are right now, but if they do we’ll take it as it comes.
"I don’t know. To be honest, a lot of it has to do with my wife Cecilia and I think a lot of it has to do with where we’re at and what our plans are," he admits. "I don’t know if we’re shutting the door on more kids or not, but I can tell you right now, I mean, when we had our first daughter, we loved her with all our heart, and our hearts grew when we had our second daughter, and then our hearts grew again when we had our son. So I don’t know if our hearts can get any bigger than they are right now, but if they do we’ll take it as it comes."
This domesticity is not just a lifestyle; it is the fuel for his creative engine. There is a perceptible shift in Kissel’s recent output—a move away from the generic "trucks and beer" tropes toward something more substantial.
Writing a party song when you are a father of three requires a bit of mental gymnastics. You have to reach back into the archives of your own youth while simultaneously checking the baby monitor.
"They always do," he says of his children’s influence on his music. "And it’s interesting, because it comes in sometimes the most strange of ways in the sense of whether or not I write a song specifically for my kids or about my kids or about being a dad. Sometimes if I’m writing a party anthem, I’m really trying to put myself in the moment of what it was like when I used to party because now as a dad, we’ll go out on stage, we’ll party on stage and then sometimes I’ll get the first flight home so that I can get together with my family."
And that is the Kissel paradox. He is the guy leading the crowd in a drinking song at 11:00 p.m. and the guy changing diapers at 6:00 a.m. It provides a level of focus that younger, unattached artists often lack.
"So all that being said, they’ve been the driving force behind pretty much everything that I’ve done in a big way, and I’m very thankful for that because I feel I’m working harder, I’m writing better songs, I’m working smarter and all those things because I do have a family that I want to impress and I want to take care of and everything like that," he says. "So my kids have inspired everything that I’ve done moving forward."
The industry has been buzzing about what comes next. Kissel has been uncharacteristically quiet about his new material, a move that suggests he is trying to pivot away from the expected.
He reveals that the creative process for the next record was not just a session; it was a marathon. We are talking about nearly 90 songs written for a single project. That is an insane level of output that suggests a desperate need to evolve.
"I think that’s very wise of you. The answer is yes," he says regarding the new album rumours. "I’ve been very, very careful to not talk much about new music over the past year, just truly to focus as much as I possibly can on well the good things that are happening in my life and music outside of creating new stuff."
But the wait is almost over. A new single is slated for Sept. 2019, with a full-length record expected to drop before the calendar turns or shortly after. Kissel is positioning this as his definitive statement.
"But I’m ready to tell you that we have been in the studio a lot this year," he says. "We have spent a lot of time writing songs. I think we have written close to 90 songs for this new project, and we’ve got a new song that’s coming out in September. We’ve got a record that’s going to be coming out either at the end of 2019 or the beginning part of 2020, and I truly believe that this is going to raise the bar in a big way from everything that I’ve done in the past. And I’m so excited for not only my fans, but for the industry and everybody around to hear this because I think it’s some extraordinary new music."
One of the most interesting aspects of Kissel’s career is his refusal to fully "Nashville-ize" his sound. There is a distinct Canadian geography in his lyrics that sets him apart from the cookie-cutter exports of the southern US.
He understands that Canadian country music is not just about copying the Nashville blueprint; it is about the cold, the distance and the ruggedness of the north.
"I think that there’s a different layer of depth to us and what we sing and how we perform. It doesn’t make it better, it doesn’t make it worse, it just makes it unique," Kissel explains. "I’m obviously a proud Canadian, and I think the biggest thing is that the way that our songwriters are made and the way that we craft our songs is different from the lifestyle that Americans in the south live. So while they’re talking about kudzu vines and tall Georgia Pines, we’re talking about the Rocky Mountains, we’re talking about the Arctic weather and stuff like that. So it’s a unique way to create and write songs and something I’m proud of that I get to draw on my personal experiences being a Canadian."
This brings us back to London. The city has served as a lucky charm for Kissel. From the early days at Budweiser Gardens to the CCMA wins and the Juno glory, the Forest City is where his milestones happen.
Returning for Park Jam feels like a victory lap before the next race begins. He has a history here that transcends the typical tour stop.
"London has always had a special place in my heart because when I first started on my national career, I signed to Warner Music, I had an opportunity to go tour Bud Gardens and I made a vow then to some of the people I’d met, but mostly to my family and my team, that one day I’m going to come back to Bud Gardens and we’re going to have some great success there," he says.
And he was right. The man has a knack for calling his shots.
"Sure enough, in 2016 I won Male Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards and in 2019 I won a Juno," he notes. "Sure enough, if I don’t come back to Trackside two years in a row. Sure enough as hell, we now come back to Parkjam and we get to headline. It’s just an incredible, incredible city that has had some of the biggest moments of my career. So, I’m really looking forward to coming back."
But the most telling part of our conversation is his focus on the Fans Choice nomination. In the industry, critics can be bought and radio can be manipulated, but the fan vote is the only metric that actually measures the weight of an artist's soul.
Kissel treats the Fans Choice award like the Stanley Cup. He wants to win it, and he wants to share it with the people who put him on the pedestal.
"I forgot to talk about our Fans Choice nomination, and that is something that is so important to me because that is voted on only by the fans," he says with a sudden burst of energy. "So let me make a proclamation that if I’m lucky enough to win that, I want to tell everybody in London that I’m going to bring that glass trophy with me at some point in the future - like it’s the Stanley Cup, and we’re going to have a big Stanley Cup party. The website to vote is ccmafanvote.com."
It is a bold promise. But if there is one thing we have learned about Brett Kissel, it is that he usually delivers on the hype. Whether he is headlining a festival or changing a diaper, he is doing it with a level of intensity that most people save for their wedding day. And that is why he is still at the top of the mountain.
