Growing up in southern Saskatchewan played a big part in Karissa Hoffart’s development as a country music singer, and she’s planning to bring that influence to Prince Albert on June 15.
The Saskatchewan Country Music Association (SCMA) award nominee will perform in Memorial Square during the Downtown Street Fair on Saturday. It’s Hoffart’s first performance in Prince Albert, and one she’s looking forward to.
“I’m really excited to get my music out to different parts of Saskatchewan,” she said during a phone interview on Tuesday. “Growing up in the southern region of Saskatchewan has really been awesome, but I’m so excited to find new fans and find new people to connect with around the northern parts of Saskatchewan.”
Hoffart lives in the Weyburn area, but grew up on a family ranch in the Big Muddy region of Saskatchewan. She said the hilly landscape was unique to the province and helped establish her as an artist, with country being her “go-to” genre.
“Just having that freedom and space allowed me to write whatever came to me,” she said.
Hoffart released ‘Dreamer’, her first EP in 2016, and followed that up with ‘Life of Mine’, her first full-length album, in 2020.
Past performances include shows at Country Thunder Saskatchewan, Dauphin’s Countryfest, and the Gateway Music Festival. She also performed with her band at the Grey Cup Festival in 2022.
She received recognition for her most recent work a few months ago, when she was one of six women nominated for SCMA Female Artist of the Year. Hoffart said she’s grateful to be on the list with so many other talented artists.
“It just felt like such an accomplishment just to be on that nomination ballot,” she said. “To be on the final ballot here has been such an incredible feeling, so I’m really excited to be nominated and get to go to Lloydminster for the Awards Show.”
Hoffart arrives in Prince Albert with ‘What happens in the Barn’, a new single released on Friday, June 7. The song was originally written by Doug Sylvester and SCMA award winner Justin Labrash, but modified so Hoffart could sing it from a female point of view.
“I loved the song so much when they showed me,” Hoffart remembered. “I wanted to (sing) it as (from) a female perspective, so they swapped out the words, made it more female…. I decided to record it because it’s such a fun upbeat song. It has such a fun musical aspect to it too.”
Karissa Hoffart and the Big Muddy Band will perform at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 in Memorial Square for the annual Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District Street Fair.
