Make A Life, Not A Living by Brett Kissel – Song of the Day

If you ever needed a song to get you through Friday, it’s our Song of the Day - Make A Life, Not A Living by Canadian country singer-songwriter, Brett Kissel. The single is the first off his 2021 album, What Is Life?

Brett says, “This album is my most important work ... everything is intentional. Every lyric is impactful. Every photo taken is special. Every choice made has meaning. This album doesn’t follow any trends. This album is my most true and authentic album, and peels back several layers — giving anyone who listens a real in-depth look into my life.”

Produced by One Peak Creative, the music video for Make A Life, Not A Living features his wife Cecilia and his children, Mila, Aria and Leo.

He says, “When making a music video, I usually sit down with the director and producer, and conceptualise. For a few minutes, I seriously thought, ‘Okay, let’s hire actors to play my family. We need a 5-year-old. A 3-year-old. A 2-year-old. A hot wife, like mine. And a country looking guy, who looks exceptionally average, like me.' Then I realised ... why would I hire a family to play my family when my real family can act as my real family for free?”

Born in Alberta, Brett started learning guitar at six-years-old before making his stage debut at a school fundraiser. He recorded his first album, Keepin’ It Country at 12-years-old, which included two Johnny Cash songs. Three additional independent albums followed – By Request (2004), Tried and True – a Canadian Tribute (2006) and My Roots Run Deep (2008).

After scoring a record deal, he released his debut single Started with a Song in 2013 from the album of the same name. The following year, he was nominated for four Association of Country Music in Alberta Awards (ACMA), winning two, as well as scoring eight Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA) nominations. He also won the 2014 Juno Award for ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’.

After a successful tour opening for Brad Paisley, he won a further three ACMAs in 2015 and released his album Pick Me Up. Albums We Were That Song (2017) and Now or Never (2020) followed. In total, Brett has had two Gold certified albums and three number one hits on the Canadian country chart with his singles, Airwaves, Drink About Me and A Few Good Stories. In 2020, he won four CCMAs, including ‘Fans' Choice’, ‘Male of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’.

Keep up to date with Brett Kissel on his Facebook page here.

For more Song Of The Days from CountryTown, check out here.

Image: via Facebook