Brett Kissel Reflects on Big Move From Canada to the United States in New Album, ‘Now or Never’ (Exclusive)

He was already a big, big deal in Canada, when Brett Kissel decided to move, along with his family, to the United States. The married father of three knew he could continue winning awards and having No. 1 singles all over his home country, but his heart –– and his music –– kept calling him to Nashville, where he finally relocated, in time to release his latest album, Now or Never, which came out at the start of the year.

“You know, for me it wasn’t difficult at all,” Kissel told PopCulture.com of the decision. “We’re very, very proud of our roots up north and the great success that we’ve had up there, but we understand that the power of all things in country music comes from Nashville. Everyone around the world knows that, so we wanted to try our hand at coming here to Music City and bringing my brand of country music to the country music capital.”

Now or Never is Kissel’s fourth album released on Warner Music Canada, and by far the one he is most proud to release.

“It’s a real labor of love,” Kissel stated. “I think every artist will say that they really put their heart and their soul into a project. Everything I’ve done up to this point I’ve been very proud of, but I tried to find an extra gear or some extra energy to put into this project in particular. From the writing to what I did in the studio, I just wanted to destroy the box of what I guess was capable for country music.

“We’ve got some really great traditional songs, but we’ve also got some bangers that are really pop leaning,” he added. “It’s a really good group of songs that I’m very proud of.”

Kissel’s current single, “She Drives Me Crazy,” is also a moment in history, at least in country music. For the video, Kissel employed an almost all-female crew and cast, including his two young daughters, Mila and Aria.

“My wife and I talked about this at great length,” Kissel said. “One of the really cool things is that we brought our little girls to the set to be in the video, but also to be on set to see all of the moving parts and to see the great strength in our industry and all of these great roles that they can have.”

Kissel vows to keep moving more towards pushing for equality among male and female artists, determined to help do all he can to help women in country music.

“Everyone has an opportunity to do their part, and for me I have absolutely no fear of going down this path,” Kissel maintained. “I’m extremely excited to do this, and if I have an opportunity to support both sides, I’m gonna do it. I think the time is now. I give a lot of credit to my beautiful wife Cecilia. I’m very, very proud of my two little girls. I cannot believe the strength and the passion and the power I see in these two little human beings.

“And so for me, I’m not even making it a thing, ’cause it doesn’t need to be a thing. I thought this is a great way to start, to go all-female in this video,” he continued. “Everything that I do moving forward, I think we have a great opportunity to support both sides, and to make sure that if there’s someone who’s great for that job, we’re gonna let that human being do the best job possible. And the reality is is that there’s so many great females that in our business have been overlooked, and I don’t think it’s gonna happen for long.”

Purchase Now or Never by visiting Kissel’s website.

Photo Credit: Getty / Andrew Francis Wallace