When Canadian country artist Brett Kissel plays a show in Inuvik this fall, it will be his first time ever in the Northwest Territories.
Photo courtesy of Warner Music
"I'm really, really excited to get up to play there," said Kissel.
Kissel was supposed to play in Inuvik before, at the 2016 Sunrise Festival, but had to cancel.
"My wife and I were expecting our very first baby. We obviously had to change the plan," he said. "I thought for sure I'd be able to make it up sooner, but I think what's good about this is we'll just make up for lost time. Maybe I'll play a longer set, party a little harder coming up there this time."
Inuvik's Midnight Sun Recreation Complex will be the Canadian Country Music Award winner's second stop on the second leg of his We Were That Song tour September 22.
Kissel said when he was planning the tour, it was a priority to play in every province and territory in Canada.
"The way we wanted to structure our tour this year, we wanted to play essentially everywhere. We find that a lot of other artists, when they go across Canada … they play in the same old places," he said. "For us, we wanted to make sure that we were playing the territories and go to areas that not a lot of artists really ever go."
Inuvik is Kissel's only stop in the Northwest Territories, but he said he'll be back to play in Yellowknife in the future.
"We will make our trip to Yellowknife pretty special, but we'll do that another time," said Kissel. "We find that Inuvik is such a unique community in Canada … it's something we're really excited to experience."
Kissel said it was important to him to play in as many places in Canada as possible.
"For me, being a Canadian artist and loving my home country as much as I do, I just felt that it would be inappropriate to do a tour of this size and not hit the territories and not hit such an important part of Canada that holds such an important part of our history," said Kissel. "If we're going to play every province, we can't forget about the territories. We're not concerned with making money or putting on a gigantic show for ourselves. We're concerned about getting up there and putting on an amazing show for the people."
Kissel said he's excited to explore the North and gain inspiration from the land.
"I'm looking forward to being able to experience the North with my band, who are some of my best friends, and with my wife Cecilia," he said. "Our goal is to get up there and to just really unplug a little bit, take a break from social media."