MooseFM spoke with Xavier Leahy from outside the Conexis Arena in Saskatchewan where he’d just come from rehearsing for Friday nights show.
When asked how the tour came about, Leahy explained that last fall he was at his forestry course at Algonquin college when he got a text from out of the blue.
His friend wanted to pass along Leahy’s contact information because a colleague was looking to get in touch.
Leahy was surprised when he found out that the colleague was Brett Kissel.
Soon after he was invited on Kissel’s February Compass tour as a guitar player.
We asked Leahy about getting ready for the tour with Kissel. He said he’s been practicing through January and that one local spot in particular was a great place to perform at while getting ready to tour:
The Wilno tavern.
“ It’s so, so fun there” Said Leahy, “and great musicians there too. I learned a lot there. And you know, it’s all part of the practice playing there for me and getting ready for this too. I always wanted to go there as much as I could”
Leahy is a multi-intrumentalist who also plays accordion in his family’s well-known folk band Leahy.
He lives near Golden Lake.
Brett Kissel’s compass tour kicks off Friday February 2nd and goes through the month. Close to home shows will be in Huntsville on February 11th and Ottawa on the 22nd and 24th.
Brett Kissel has achieved four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with “Airwaves”, “Drink About Me”, “A Few Good Stories”, and “Make a Life, Not a Living”