![\"CCMA](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/brett-kissel-2_298931493.jpg\" "\\"CCMA")
On June 1, before the Canadian men’s national soccer team kicked off its match against Uzbekistan in front of an announced crowd of more than 46,000, country star Brett Kissel stood in the driving rain and played “O Canada.”
The chatter in the Commonwealth Stadium press box was not kind. Why was the anthem sung entirely in English? (That’s a no-no for national-team events.) And why would an artist associated with the Alberta separatist movement be asked to sing the national anthem in the first place?
That talk extended to social media.
It moved Kissel to the point where he decided it was time for people to stop assuming he’s a separatist.
“I am fed up with the bulls — t online that is coming after me, my character, and my national pride,” Kissel posted to social media.
“So, if you don’t read anything further, here’s the quote that you can put in your blogs, papers, or media: ‘F— off. I’m a Canadian and Albertan. I can be both.’
“I grew up on a cattle ranch that has been in my family for 116 years. It is located in Flat Lake, Alberta. This makes me a proud Canadian, and a proud Albertan. I now own that ranch, and my kids will be the sixth generation on that same piece of land. My great grandparents are buried there.”
And Kissel does not want to be seen in the same tradition as Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan or Marvin Gaye or pretty well every hip-hop act of the 20th century — he doesn’t want his music associated with politics.
“Here’s the reality in Alberta: Albertans want change,” he said. “But who the f — k knows if, or how, or when it’s gonna happen? It ain’t up to me. I’m just a country singer. I’m a conservative too. And somehow that lands me in hot water too. Most of my artist friends are liberal. But we’re still buddies. So, why is this so goddamn controversial?”
But Kissel did write “Line in the Sand,” a song which he has said listeners can interpret the way they want, but many have associated as being a pro-convoy anthem. So is he “just a country singer?”
He sang: “I see people going crazy/ And good lives torn apart / Windows boarded up and shut down / And I see broken hearts / My boss he comes up to me /Says I better toe the line / Well, you can take away my paycheque / But you can’t take my pride.
“Cause I stand up for my freedom / And I stand for family / I stand up for this life I love / I stand up for my country / So if you try to take me down / Let me show you where I stand / Hate me if you want to / But this is my line in the sand.”
Kissel has voiced his support for family members who stood against COVID-19 restrictions. He’s also been seen at Conservative Party events. During the 2025 election campaign, he was at a large rally for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in Nisku, and was asked to come on stage from the front row to address the audience. As he drove up to that event in his pickup, his vehicle was surrounded by fans chanting “Alberta proud!”
The associations with convoys, the Conservative movement and being a plain old cowboy clearly have many people making the connection to “separatist.” But Kissel has said that is a connection people shouldn’t be making.
He’s drawn another line in the sand.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun