The Sit Down with Brett Kissel
In 2023, Alberta native Brett Kissel released his ambitious Compass project where he released 4 albums across the year! The last time we caught up with Brett he as just about to put out the first of the four albums and this week he will be releasing his first album since the Compass Project with Let Your Horses Run. We caught up with Brett the day before its release to find out more about the album.
How you doing buddy?
Not bad, yourself?
Long time no see.
It has been quite a while, the last time we spoke you were just putting out the first part of the Compass project.
Yes, well and that's why I'm appreciative that you haven't forgotten about me and that you're still interested in having a conversation - it means a lot. I was telling Abbie who's new to our team about the few conversations that we've had and how they've always been not only memorable, but I'm like very appreciative that you are one of the key pillars for me and my audience on the other side of the pond.
Well, I'm going to start off by moaning at you though.
Why, what happened?
It's been six years!
I know, I know! Well, you factor in the COVID years and the not being able to travel, so you throw those three away and then it's really three years, which is still unacceptable, okay, I understand. We have a really good strategy lined up for late 25 and 26, I'm really proud for the UK and Australia. The strategy is just putting in the time and building it. I believe that it would take me three years of consistently showing up to develop an audience there and we will do it the hard way, like Kip Moore did. Don't get me wrong, if I played C2C or those festivals, that would be great, but I don't know if I'm going to get those looks. I think I just have to come and rely on you and your publication to get the word out and play for free the first time, play for 10 bucks the second time, play for 30 bucks the third time, and then hopefully sell 1,000 tickets the fourth time!
It's good to kind of see the Canadian artists do remember us though, because I a lot of the Canadian artists stick with your Canadian roots and have built such huge success at home.
There's a lot of factors and a lot of reasons as to why that is. A lot of it is honestly, it's financial and the financial commitment. You know, if an artist is getting $100,000 in Canada on the same weekend that they could be getting £1,000 in the UK, business-wise, it's not a wise choice. If you don't look at it in terms of cost, you look at it honestly, in terms of business and investment, and you're investing into a market that is growing and that matters and you want to truly be international, this is what you got to do. Now that I've been able to make money back that was lost, during the three years of shutdown, and the UK had such similar rules and regulations and limitations as we did. With all that being said, now that that's all over and a guy can start to earn money and save money again, now you can go out and invest and spend it. A wise way to spend it is on a market like the UK, which is why I'm excited again
No excuses now.
No excuses, you've heard it from me now, you got to keep me accountable!
How you doing buddy?
Not bad, yourself?
Long time no see.
It has been quite a while, the last time we spoke you were just putting out the first part of the Compass project.
Yes, well and that's why I'm appreciative that you haven't forgotten about me and that you're still interested in having a conversation - it means a lot. I was telling Abbie who's new to our team about the few conversations that we've had and how they've always been not only memorable, but I'm like very appreciative that you are one of the key pillars for me and my audience on the other side of the pond.
Well, I'm going to start off by moaning at you though.
Why, what happened?
It's been six years!
I know, I know! Well, you factor in the COVID years and the not being able to travel, so you throw those three away and then it's really three years, which is still unacceptable, okay, I understand. We have a really good strategy lined up for late 25 and 26, I'm really proud for the UK and Australia. The strategy is just putting in the time and building it. I believe that it would take me three years of consistently showing up to develop an audience there and we will do it the hard way, like Kip Moore did. Don't get me wrong, if I played C2C or those festivals, that would be great, but I don't know if I'm going to get those looks. I think I just have to come and rely on you and your publication to get the word out and play for free the first time, play for 10 bucks the second time, play for 30 bucks the third time, and then hopefully sell 1,000 tickets the fourth time!
It's good to kind of see the Canadian artists do remember us though, because I a lot of the Canadian artists stick with your Canadian roots and have built such huge success at home.
There's a lot of factors and a lot of reasons as to why that is. A lot of it is honestly, it's financial and the financial commitment. You know, if an artist is getting $100,000 in Canada on the same weekend that they could be getting £1,000 in the UK, business-wise, it's not a wise choice. If you don't look at it in terms of cost, you look at it honestly, in terms of business and investment, and you're investing into a market that is growing and that matters and you want to truly be international, this is what you got to do. Now that I've been able to make money back that was lost, during the three years of shutdown, and the UK had such similar rules and regulations and limitations as we did. With all that being said, now that that's all over and a guy can start to earn money and save money again, now you can go out and invest and spend it. A wise way to spend it is on a market like the UK, which is why I'm excited again
No excuses now.
No excuses, you've heard it from me now, you got to keep me accountable!
I honestly was kind of expecting when you kind of finished the Compass project, for there to be a quiet year, 18 months maybe for you, that the family might want to keep you in the house and not let you near a recording studio for a while. That kind of obviously didn't happen as the final compass album, the live album, was December of 2023, and now 14, 15 months later a brand new album drops tomorrow, or in three hours here!
Exactly. I obviously don't want to rest! I don't want to let my foot off the gas ever. I understand the value of rest for the purposes of recharging your batteries so that you can go out and give 100% again and again and again, it's just part of my genetic makeup. Now, if strategically, it would have been good to have a period of a break for the industry and for my fans, then we would have considered it, but we had some really great attention after the Compass project. I was just writing for the sake of writing and I ended up writing Two of Us with Cooper Allen. That song took off for us. Shortly after I wrote Let Your Horses Run and we said, why would we wait? Honestly, as a team, why would we wait when we feel this song is really special? So we released it. That was such a massive song for us here over the last year, that we now knew that that was a key pillar for an entire record to build around it. I now had that key pillar and I had a laser focus, I was able to write songs and find songs that perfectly fit to make the Let Your Horses Run album a reality.
I'm so kind of glad that this release has found a home for Two of Us because you released it just before you put West out, and it wouldn't have worked with for that album with the authentic feel. Are you quite glad that you have found that home for it, even though it is 18 months later now?
Yeah, it's a song that's been out in the world for a long time, but it fit perfectly on the album because even though it's definitely deeply rooted in Western themes, Western concepts, Western ideas, the fun that is Two of Us and the opportunity for the character of the song, me, to tell your boss man, you know, take this job and shove it, is definitely something that you'd say out in the Wild West. You don't take no for an answer. You're not going to take shit from nobody. That song and Hurtin' Songs on the record are the only two that were a little bit outside of the cowboy theme, but they still fit and it wasn't a stretch. I'm proud it has a home, yes
Exactly. I obviously don't want to rest! I don't want to let my foot off the gas ever. I understand the value of rest for the purposes of recharging your batteries so that you can go out and give 100% again and again and again, it's just part of my genetic makeup. Now, if strategically, it would have been good to have a period of a break for the industry and for my fans, then we would have considered it, but we had some really great attention after the Compass project. I was just writing for the sake of writing and I ended up writing Two of Us with Cooper Allen. That song took off for us. Shortly after I wrote Let Your Horses Run and we said, why would we wait? Honestly, as a team, why would we wait when we feel this song is really special? So we released it. That was such a massive song for us here over the last year, that we now knew that that was a key pillar for an entire record to build around it. I now had that key pillar and I had a laser focus, I was able to write songs and find songs that perfectly fit to make the Let Your Horses Run album a reality.
I'm so kind of glad that this release has found a home for Two of Us because you released it just before you put West out, and it wouldn't have worked with for that album with the authentic feel. Are you quite glad that you have found that home for it, even though it is 18 months later now?
Yeah, it's a song that's been out in the world for a long time, but it fit perfectly on the album because even though it's definitely deeply rooted in Western themes, Western concepts, Western ideas, the fun that is Two of Us and the opportunity for the character of the song, me, to tell your boss man, you know, take this job and shove it, is definitely something that you'd say out in the Wild West. You don't take no for an answer. You're not going to take shit from nobody. That song and Hurtin' Songs on the record are the only two that were a little bit outside of the cowboy theme, but they still fit and it wasn't a stretch. I'm proud it has a home, yes
Looking back now, are you glad to have got someone like Cooper on that track? Obviously, you introduced yourself to a whole new concept of fans because he's very much TikTok-based and it's almost allowed you to introduce yourself to that generation and then him to introduce himself to your Canadian market.
It's a wonderful relationship. I'll talk business first, which is secondary, to be frank. The business side of things works out great. I love that I was able to gain more fans and followers thanks to his presence on the platform. I know he's very appreciative of being able to come up to Canada and continue to build an audience and to have that great catapult because of my brand. But like I said, that's secondary. The primary thing that I focus on and I'm the most proud of is the fact that he and I have become good buddies. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's not a business transaction. This is two guys that first met, maybe because of business, and now he's a really good friend. I just love the guy. I really do. I'm very happy for his success.
It’s not the only duo you have on the album, the last song you released before the albums release, Get the Hell Out of This Town, had Don Lewis on it. Was it always your intention to get a few collaborations on this album?
You know, Don came out of nowhere for me, where my management was talking with his management, and his management had said, you know, you need to put Don on your radar for some stuff up in Canada because he's blowing up in America. When I saw his look and heard his voice, we thought that he would be perfect for Get the Hell Out of This Town. Gone are the days where you need to chase somebody who's got a significant name. All that stuff just didn't matter to me anymore. What mattered to me was the voice, the vibe, the personality and again, you form a friendship. You want to help a guy that is becoming your friend and I think he's doing the same thing with me, helping me get introduced to the market in Texas. Don, his voice, as you heard, was extraordinary on Get the Hell Out of This Town and then it opened up for two more collabs. Phil Vassar joins me on the song that Phil and I wrote together called Rich Is, which I think is my favorite song on the album, because of the story that that tells. Then I've got another very unique collaboration with an amazing artist who is so new to the game of country music. Her name is Morgan Klaiber, but we met hunting. She and her dad took me out hunting deer in southern Alberta and he tells me, he's like, you know, my daughter's a pretty good singer. She started to sing, and I'm thinking, oh, my God, she is as authentically more cowboy than me! She's got this great voice and I had this song half written called All This Cowboy Needs that talks about just gratitude and the simple things in life and I looked at her and I said, you should write a second verse to this. She pretty much wrote it on the spot and I'm like, and now you're this great singer. Now you're proving how great of a writer you are and my band ended up backing her up and playing on her debut album. It really fit in the family. It's really special to give somebody their very first national, international opportunity and she deserves it. All of these collabs now have a home on the Let Your Horses Run album and all of these songs are really special
It's a wonderful relationship. I'll talk business first, which is secondary, to be frank. The business side of things works out great. I love that I was able to gain more fans and followers thanks to his presence on the platform. I know he's very appreciative of being able to come up to Canada and continue to build an audience and to have that great catapult because of my brand. But like I said, that's secondary. The primary thing that I focus on and I'm the most proud of is the fact that he and I have become good buddies. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's not a business transaction. This is two guys that first met, maybe because of business, and now he's a really good friend. I just love the guy. I really do. I'm very happy for his success.
It’s not the only duo you have on the album, the last song you released before the albums release, Get the Hell Out of This Town, had Don Lewis on it. Was it always your intention to get a few collaborations on this album?
You know, Don came out of nowhere for me, where my management was talking with his management, and his management had said, you know, you need to put Don on your radar for some stuff up in Canada because he's blowing up in America. When I saw his look and heard his voice, we thought that he would be perfect for Get the Hell Out of This Town. Gone are the days where you need to chase somebody who's got a significant name. All that stuff just didn't matter to me anymore. What mattered to me was the voice, the vibe, the personality and again, you form a friendship. You want to help a guy that is becoming your friend and I think he's doing the same thing with me, helping me get introduced to the market in Texas. Don, his voice, as you heard, was extraordinary on Get the Hell Out of This Town and then it opened up for two more collabs. Phil Vassar joins me on the song that Phil and I wrote together called Rich Is, which I think is my favorite song on the album, because of the story that that tells. Then I've got another very unique collaboration with an amazing artist who is so new to the game of country music. Her name is Morgan Klaiber, but we met hunting. She and her dad took me out hunting deer in southern Alberta and he tells me, he's like, you know, my daughter's a pretty good singer. She started to sing, and I'm thinking, oh, my God, she is as authentically more cowboy than me! She's got this great voice and I had this song half written called All This Cowboy Needs that talks about just gratitude and the simple things in life and I looked at her and I said, you should write a second verse to this. She pretty much wrote it on the spot and I'm like, and now you're this great singer. Now you're proving how great of a writer you are and my band ended up backing her up and playing on her debut album. It really fit in the family. It's really special to give somebody their very first national, international opportunity and she deserves it. All of these collabs now have a home on the Let Your Horses Run album and all of these songs are really special
And now you get to take it all on tour, but it's a different style for you with an acoustic tour. Is that going to be slightly different to almost go back to effectively the day these songs were written for some of them
Yeah, it's really cool to look at my set list that I'm crafting. I've been crafting you know, from the first leg to now the second leg that's going across Canada once more and getting a chance to peel back all these layers and tell you the story behind the song has been a very freeing experience. I love the freedom of it, but it's also unique to have written the song in its purest form, go and record it and now strip it back down once again. It's a very unique, creative experience for me. That's the beauty of the Side You’ve Never Seen Tour because there's no rules. I can play a song fast, I can play it slow, I can play whatever I want. I can play a little bit of it, I can play it extended, I can tell the story before the song, after the song, during the song. There’re no rules on the Side You’ve Never Seen Tour, which is why I think it's been so well received and so it's selling so well.
Do you think it's going to be a chance for fans almost to kind of effectively see the other side of these songs and actually learn the deeper meaning behind some of them as well?
Well, judging by social media, that's what everybody is loving the most, is not knowing why I wrote this song, or not knowing how difficult of a place I was in when I wrote that song. Or not realizing the science behind crafting a party song, which usually is the more beers you drink, the happier you get, the bigger the buzz, the less you care and the less you care, sometimes the more freeing it is to write a big party anthem. It's been so cool to get to do this and my kids have come up on stage several times as they travel with me on this tour, like all the tours, but they're older now and we just have a conversation at supper. Mila, do you want to get up tonight? She'll say, no, not tonight. No, thank you. But Arielle will say, I would love to, or Arielle will say, no, thank you. Leo will say, absolutely. It's so cool.
Do you think it's almost making you want to put it into an acoustic album or are you just wanting to keep it as this special moment on a tour?
The reason why I would say no to the album and yes to keeping it to the tour is simply because every show is different and you can't be spontaneous on a record. Once you've heard the story and you've heard the song, you've heard the song. I don't think I've played the same song the same way twice on this tour. You can't capture the magic. You can't. As much as I would like to think I could, or as much as I could try, you can't capture the magic that is this tour
Yeah, it's really cool to look at my set list that I'm crafting. I've been crafting you know, from the first leg to now the second leg that's going across Canada once more and getting a chance to peel back all these layers and tell you the story behind the song has been a very freeing experience. I love the freedom of it, but it's also unique to have written the song in its purest form, go and record it and now strip it back down once again. It's a very unique, creative experience for me. That's the beauty of the Side You’ve Never Seen Tour because there's no rules. I can play a song fast, I can play it slow, I can play whatever I want. I can play a little bit of it, I can play it extended, I can tell the story before the song, after the song, during the song. There’re no rules on the Side You’ve Never Seen Tour, which is why I think it's been so well received and so it's selling so well.
Do you think it's going to be a chance for fans almost to kind of effectively see the other side of these songs and actually learn the deeper meaning behind some of them as well?
Well, judging by social media, that's what everybody is loving the most, is not knowing why I wrote this song, or not knowing how difficult of a place I was in when I wrote that song. Or not realizing the science behind crafting a party song, which usually is the more beers you drink, the happier you get, the bigger the buzz, the less you care and the less you care, sometimes the more freeing it is to write a big party anthem. It's been so cool to get to do this and my kids have come up on stage several times as they travel with me on this tour, like all the tours, but they're older now and we just have a conversation at supper. Mila, do you want to get up tonight? She'll say, no, not tonight. No, thank you. But Arielle will say, I would love to, or Arielle will say, no, thank you. Leo will say, absolutely. It's so cool.
Do you think it's almost making you want to put it into an acoustic album or are you just wanting to keep it as this special moment on a tour?
The reason why I would say no to the album and yes to keeping it to the tour is simply because every show is different and you can't be spontaneous on a record. Once you've heard the story and you've heard the song, you've heard the song. I don't think I've played the same song the same way twice on this tour. You can't capture the magic. You can't. As much as I would like to think I could, or as much as I could try, you can't capture the magic that is this tour
Now, we can't have a conversation without talking hockey, because we always do. Well, you're up there as the person I hate most for going to every single game I want to go to. So which is top for you? Being at the Four Nations, with the McDavid Overtime Goal or getting to be at game seven, even though the Oilers didn’t win the cup?
Well, Four Nations beats it in a landslide because of the victory. Connor scoring a goal, number 97, is something that is so truly epic that I don't think Disney and their greatest writers could write a better story that would make you feel the feelings that I felt watching Connor McDavid score the goal in Canada, win the gold medal and also against the Americans. It would have been amazing if we beat Finland. It would have been amazing if we beat Sweden, but not as amazing as it was to beat the Americans. So that was incredibly special. And the heartbreak, the genuine heartbreak that I felt in June, game seven, watching the Oilers lose and watching Florida celebrate in a market that doesn't give a shit about hockey.
I had the same with Calgary and Tampa over 20 years ago!
Exactly like when Calgary lost in 04 to Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay has become quite a bit of a hockey market because they've won so much guys like Steven Stamkos, whatever. But in 04, they were 10 years into the league and they're probably selling playoff tickets for $20 because people love to watch ice hockey. The don’t even know it's not called ice hockey, it's called hockey and they don't understand icing or offside or penalties at all. That's still the way that it is in Florida. It bothered me that the market won a Stanley Cup, but it didn't bother me that the players won a Stanley Cup. They played incredibly well, love them or hate them. They played incredibly well. They really did, but I was heartbroken. I watched every game of game seven live. The first two in Florida, the next two in Edmonton, then back and forth and I've never been that sad. It was just numb. That goes to show I have an unhealthy relationship with the sport of hockey and the Edmonton Oilers. But I was just sad. I was so sad and we're not doing well right now. It's trending in the wrong direction.
Let's just hope they turn it around come playoff time.
I hope so too. I hope so too.
Well, obviously, as ever, it's been absolutely amazing chatting. And I'm 100% holding you to getting over here because I can't afford another flight to Canada anytime soon at the minute.
Thank you. You've been so supportive. And, you know, there's so many wonderful festivals.
Good luck with the album launch and everything tomorrow and I'm sure everyone cannot wait to hear it.
Enjoy when you do all right.
Let Your Horses Run, the new album from Brett Kissel is out NOW
For more information about Brett Kissel, visit his website or follow him on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok.
Well, Four Nations beats it in a landslide because of the victory. Connor scoring a goal, number 97, is something that is so truly epic that I don't think Disney and their greatest writers could write a better story that would make you feel the feelings that I felt watching Connor McDavid score the goal in Canada, win the gold medal and also against the Americans. It would have been amazing if we beat Finland. It would have been amazing if we beat Sweden, but not as amazing as it was to beat the Americans. So that was incredibly special. And the heartbreak, the genuine heartbreak that I felt in June, game seven, watching the Oilers lose and watching Florida celebrate in a market that doesn't give a shit about hockey.
I had the same with Calgary and Tampa over 20 years ago!
Exactly like when Calgary lost in 04 to Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay has become quite a bit of a hockey market because they've won so much guys like Steven Stamkos, whatever. But in 04, they were 10 years into the league and they're probably selling playoff tickets for $20 because people love to watch ice hockey. The don’t even know it's not called ice hockey, it's called hockey and they don't understand icing or offside or penalties at all. That's still the way that it is in Florida. It bothered me that the market won a Stanley Cup, but it didn't bother me that the players won a Stanley Cup. They played incredibly well, love them or hate them. They played incredibly well. They really did, but I was heartbroken. I watched every game of game seven live. The first two in Florida, the next two in Edmonton, then back and forth and I've never been that sad. It was just numb. That goes to show I have an unhealthy relationship with the sport of hockey and the Edmonton Oilers. But I was just sad. I was so sad and we're not doing well right now. It's trending in the wrong direction.
Let's just hope they turn it around come playoff time.
I hope so too. I hope so too.
Well, obviously, as ever, it's been absolutely amazing chatting. And I'm 100% holding you to getting over here because I can't afford another flight to Canada anytime soon at the minute.
Thank you. You've been so supportive. And, you know, there's so many wonderful festivals.
Good luck with the album launch and everything tomorrow and I'm sure everyone cannot wait to hear it.
Enjoy when you do all right.
Let Your Horses Run, the new album from Brett Kissel is out NOW
For more information about Brett Kissel, visit his website or follow him on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok.
