KISSEL GETS HIS OWN DAY AS NEW ALBUM LAUNCHES
As hard to get close to as a bride on her wedding night, Brett Kissel was all smiles and hugs at his VIP CD release party Tuesday night at Chateau Lacombe Hotel.
Amid a couple hundred people, former premier Ed Stelmach was hanging out in the beautiful oak country ballroom, as was Kissel’s pal Kevin Lowe — but it was his grandma and grandpa Kissel wanted me to meet.
“This is Fish, he runs the Edmonton Journal,” the singer joked to his gleaming ancestors — the mementos and accomplishments of his career framed by his grandmother up on stands at the event on either side of a pretty Christmas tree, which was also flanked by acoustic guitars.
Kissel, born in Flat Lake, Alta., had every reason to be happy — Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson officially proclaimed Tuesday Brett Kissel Day to celebrate the release of the 27-year-old musician’s new album, We Were That Song.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Kissel smiled. “I thought, ‘Is this for real?’ So I had to go onto social media.
“Had I had a little bit more head’s up, what I would’ve done is I would’ve proclaimed that it was a pure holiday for everybody,” he joked. “If kids don’t want to go to school, don’t go to school. If you don’t want to go to work, you don’t have to go to work. It’s Brett Kissel Day, so it’s a time to reflect, relax, kick back, pour a whiskey and enjoy some country music.”
Kissel will be playing at the Jubilee Auditorium March 4, tickets on sale now.
COLTER WALL
Strumming parables of hardliving, hangovers and interaction with the RCMP, 22-year-old Colter Wall seems almost suspiciously authentic, considering the outlaw country he exudes largely faded away some years before he was even born.
But at his solid concert Monday night at a sold-out Starlite Room — 400-plus patrons were packed to the bricks. Unlike out at Big Valley this summer with a band, Wall stood alone in the spotlights with his guitar, an unused banjo propped up behind him.
The singer is an elusive mix of things, the gorgeous, almost damaged voice of an old man, lyrics of a bumpy life partying too much and youthful, blue-eyed handsomeness including the straightest nose you’ve ever seen.
“Guess I’ll get this one out of the way,” Wall said of the song for which he’s most well-known, The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie, and the crowd, not the only time, sang along word for word. His song Me and Big Dave was another loved one. He explained before singing the song, after drinking too much, “I woke up the next day unable to move from the couch. I did what any decent songwriter would do and found a pen and paper, and wrote a song.”
You might recall this tradition of mixing drinking with lyricwriting goes back past the day of Hank Williams.
To our delight within his mellow range, Wall played Thirteen Silver Dollars, Codeine Dream and Motorcycle, keeping it simple while dropping nods to Billy Joe Shaver, Arlo Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. When things turned up even a little, the crowd stomped along on that floor rising up to the stage, and his buddy and opening act Blake Berglund joined him up there for the encore in front of the Saskatchewan flag draped over an amp.
Riveting and fist-pumping is not so much the point as is engaging with Wall, and we truly did. Speculation was on the long lineup in, this might be the last time we’d see him in such a small venue — till he is an actual old man, perhaps — and those not turned away by the sellout status were glad we made it in.
BIG VALLEY JAMBOREE ADDS TO LINE UP
As is traditional to keep upcoming festivals fresh in our mind, Big Valley Jamboree has added some names to its 2018 lineup: Luke Combs, Aaron Pritchett, Emerson Drive and Alberta’s own Paul Brandt and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Also now on the bill for the sprawling Aug. 2-5 hootenanny out in Camrose are Dallas Smith, Small Town Pistols, Leaving Thomas, Drew Gregory and Nice Horse.
The legendary festival — which boasts bull riding for breakfast, a gigantic late-night beer garden and over 25,000 patrons a day — had already announced its core lineup. These artists include Alabama, Thomas Rhett, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Florida Georgia Line. Jess Moskaluke is one of the scarcer female acts already up on the banners, and proud daddy Billy Ray Cyrus is one of BVJ’s most recognizable names for its 26th instalment.
The 2017 edition of BVJ was a wild ride, and acts from Colter Wall to Tanya Tucker to the incomparable Willie Nelson ramped up the quarter-century celebration inside the circling city of RVs and porta potties.
On sale now, tickets and camping are available at the fest site bigvalleyjamboree.com, or you can call 1-888-404-1234.
No frills, three-day general admission starts at $215, the Thursday kickoff only $40. A $550 pit pass gets you staggeringly closer to the stage, as well as a kickoff ticket. Budget at least $175 for camping, and that can sell out fast. BVJ also offers a service to split payments into up to five smaller payments to soften the kick. Ticket prices increase Jan. 31.