Raw stories, genuine country spirit, and a voice built for the spotlight.
Kalycia Lauren is an up-and-coming Métis country singer/songwriter from Devon, Alberta. Now living in Edmonton, she’s still got small town roots – but with a big story to tell. This is undoubtedly reflected in the honest, raw songs she has written about her life. Kalycia has some seriously jaw dropping anecdotes, making for a compelling life story, and, inevitably, some very catchy songs with unforgettablelyrics. While she loves to share her own experiences, she is just as imaginative in creating stories about shoes she has not walked in herself.
In January of 2026, Kalycia began recording her debut single, “Wasn’t Even Drinking,” that she wrote independently and released on June 19th. This project features production by Travis Switzer (bass player for country/rock Canadian artist, Dallas Smith), and the award-winning Saskatoon based studio, Bart McKay Productions.
Kalycia’s got a little bit of a “Best of Both Worlds” thing going for herself. She is a shy girl at heart with a plain Jane nine to five that keeps the home fires burning, but the second she’s on that stage, Kalycia is all grits and glamour with a confidence that soars. She feels so completely at home when she is dancing around and captivating her audience, big or small, with a million-dollar smile and eye-catching stage presence that will draw in anybody. She grew up idolizing the soft and roar-y blends of LeeAnn Womack, Martina McBride, and Meghan Patrick, and she enjoys a bit of that rock n’ roll crossover into other genres. Kalycia has been singing since she was only four years old, and over the years she has performed in choir, several musicals, wooed crowds through acoustic and full band shows, sang live background vocals for UK chart topping artist, Darlene Olson, and advanced to the finals at numerous competitions across Alberta.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Kalycia Lauren, I am a Métis country artist/songwriter from Devon, Alberta. I have been singing for most of my life and picked up the guitar and songwriting when I was 17. Right now, I’m living in Edmonton and working at a physiotherapy clinic, but my dream of course is to perform and write songs for a living! Outside of work and songwriting you can find me golfing with my partner, hanging out with my golden retriever puppy Daisy, cooking and baking, or making content for my social media!
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
This is my first release ever, to both streaming platforms and radio. I wrote this song about 5 years ago, and the hook was actually inspired by a TikTok that Ashley McBride posted, and I just wrote the rest of the song off that line. It was almost recorded once for an EP a few years ago, but plans changed due to Covid. We ended up restarting the project this year and dropping it down to a single rather than a feature on an EP. This song was recorded in Saskatoon by Bart McKay, produced by Travis Switzer, and I shot the majority of my content for it with Codi McIvor at my hometown bar. You can find the full video on YouTube!
Walk us through your creative progress when creating music.
Honestly, the process is completely different for every song. Sometimes it’ll start off with a melody in my head, and I’ll just kinda start spitting out whatever comes to mind into my voice memos and notes. Other times I write an entire song off a hook which was the process of this song like I mentioned, or sometimes I’ll have a general idea of an entire song and then the hook comes after the fact. Sometimes it’s real experiences and feelings, sometimes it’s totally fictional. I’ve written songs in ten minutes, ten weeks, and 10 months, to years. I think all those factors are what makes it so exciting and rewarding as a writer – you never know what’s going to inspire you, where you’re gonna be when the idea shows up, when it’s gonna happen, and when it’s gonna be completed. You don’t know if you’re gonna write your biggest song tomorrow or in 20 years, but when you complete a song that you really believe in, it’s the most wonderful feeling, and that’s how I felt about this song when I finished it. This one came so naturally and I loved it immediately. I’ve never cowritten with anyone, so I think that’s my next goal for songwriting!
Now that the music is out, what does the ‘road ahead’ look like? Beyond tours and videos, what’s one ‘bucket list’ goal you hope to achieve with this release?
I feel like once an artist puts music out into the world, you and your career are taken a lot more seriously by the industry. You also feel kinda locked into it all, but in a really good way. Now that I have released music, I see myself being hired for more shows, and that’s huge when you’re just starting out. As for my bucket list…honestly, getting one of my songs featured on the radio and doing radio interviews were both on that list for a long time…so I guess I’ve already achieved those goals! Beyond that, one of my goals I haven’t completed yet is to perform at Big Valley Jamboree; I faithfully go every year, and I’d love to be on their lineup one day!
Every artist has a ‘lightbulb moment’ where things just clicked. Looking back, what’s the one performance or milestone that made you realize, ‘Okay, this is what I was meant to do’?
I’ve always loved music and performing, but I was really, painfully shy growing up. I’d done a lot of musical theatre and choir performances in school where I was in the background, but rarely did I perform alone, and it wasn’t really the kind of music I wanted. It was still a ton of fun, but the real career fire wasn’t inside of me yet. One day when I was 16, I had the opportunity to sing by myself all around my hometown on the back of a pickup for our town’s parade, and that’s when I remember it hitting me. It sounds silly because on the outside, it was such an insignificant performance, but to me, I finally realized I could do it alone, that singing the music I wanted to sing felt 1000x better than any other performance I’d ever done, and that engaging with a crowd like that was SO fun. Writing my first song and learning to play guitar a year after that only escalated that feeling.
We love championing Canadian talent. If you were curated a ‘Must-Listen’ playlist of emerging artists right now, who is the first person you’d add?
An up-and-coming Canadian artist I really love is Kalsey Kulyk! I’ve followed her music and story for many years and watching her balance her personal life with her music career has been really inspiring, especially as a female artist that wants to have a family someday. She’s a great storyteller, performer, and was such a sweetheart when I met her!
There’s nothing like the energy of a live room. Where can fans catch you on stage next, and for someone seeing you for the first time, what should they expect from a Kalycia Lauren live experience?”
When I get to be on stage, I love to just have fun and dance around and feed off the crowd’s energy…I’m also a sucker for 90s country so I love to cover a lot of that, and every generation seems to enjoy it. I don’t have any shows booked at the moment, but I’m hoping this release changes that and opens some more doors for me. I’m very active on my socials, so if you want to see more of me, check me out there! When the next show comes around, I’ll be posting all about it!