At 25 singer/songwriter Brett Kissel is realizing a dream that began when his grandmother presented him with his first guitar at just six years old.
Propelling him to centre stage in the hearts of country fans are hit songs such as 3-2-1, Started With A Song from his debut album by the same name, and Airwaves, his latest number one hit in Canada.
More than 93 per cent of Canadian country stations added Started With A Song to their play list eclipsing the record for most adds at Canadian Country radio in one week, a record previously held by Taylor Swift.
His second album Pick Me Up was released in September and songs from that album as well will likely be part of his upcoming show at the Gibraltar Room in Williams Lake Thursday, Nov. 12.
Kissel, a fifth generation Albertan, born and raised on a cattle farm in Flat Lake, northern Alberta, now lives with his wife, Cecilia Friesen, in Nashville, Tennessee.
His grandmother gave him his first guitar when he was six years old and it wasn’t long before he started playing, singing and writing his own songs.
He released his first album Keepin’ It Country when he was just 12 years old, produced by Freddie Pelletier, and released three additional independent albums, By Request in 2004, Tried and True- A Canadian Tribute in 2006, and My Roots Run Deep in 2008.
In 2006 at age 16 Kissel was nominated for the Chevy Trucks Rising Star Awards at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards making him the youngest CCMA nominee in the history of the show.
In late 2012 Kissel wrote and recorded a song and video about the 2012-13 NHL lockout, Hockey, Please Come Back. The music video for the song was viewed 10,000 times in its first two days of release.
After multiple tripsto Nashville starting at age 13, Kissel signed a co-management contract in 2012 with managers Louis O’Reilly and Bob Doyle, who manages Garth Brooks.
Then in May 2013 he signed a record deal with Warner Music Canada which has produced his last two top selling albums, which have come with numerous awards.
Tickets for the concert Nov. 12 are $40 each available at Margetts Meats and Audio Video Unlimited (cash only).