Andrew Hyatt to play in Sudbury this month

Canadian singer-songwriter Andrew Hyatt will be performing in Sudbury this month.

The Sudbury-born artist will be playing at the ‘Annual Songwriter Night’ event at the Knox Hall on Nov. 29.

Hyatt said the show is meant to be an intimate, acoustic performance, where he’ll share stories and the inspiration behind each song.

"These kind of stripped-down songwriter nights … happen a lot in the south, but they don't really happen here," he said.

"I think we'll probably have somewhere between 250 and 300 people in the room, so I've levelled up a little bit. I've got a guitar player coming in from Toronto, and then I've got one of my guitar players who lives here coming up with me."

Hyatt was formerly an iron worker in Sudbury and transitioned to music full-time less than a decade ago.

"I always wanted to play music that was always kind of the goal," he said.

"It was definitely a lifestyle change, but I was happier playing music than I ever was waking up at, you know, 5 a.m. to show up to the smelter."

Eight albums, multiple Canadian Country Music Awards and a number of tours later, Hyatt moved to Nashville, Tenn., a year and a half ago.

Canadian singer-songwriter Andrew Hyatt will be performing in Sudbury this month. The Sudbury-born artist will be playing at the ‘Annual Songwriter Night’ event at the Knox Hall on Nov. 29. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News)

"Just being surrounded by like-minded people is great," he said.

"You're constantly working, you're constantly around great minds. It's competitive, but it's not malicious at all ... Everybody's kind of there for each other."

In January of this year, he released, 'L is For,' his new EP written during a very challenging time in his life.

"I went through a divorce. A lot of people do. And I wrote that record as I was going through the phases of that," Hyatt said.

"As people are, you get angry, you have all these feelings."

The album, he said, ended up being therapeutic and musically explorative.

"You kind of get to a point where you got to kind of look at yourself and take responsibility for that," Hyatt said.

He has since gone on to play an acoustic set at Massey Hall in Toronto, which he said was a must on his bucket list.

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"I feel like that record allowed me to get up with an acoustic guitar by myself and play music that maybe a year and a half, two years ago, nobody would have considered allowing me because nobody knew that I had those songs in me," Hyatt said.

Two weeks ago, Hyatt released two Christmas songs called 'Little Things' and 'Boxing Day.'

"It's the family time, it's seeing your friends. It's taking purposeful time with people that you love," he said.

Hyatt said he is expecting to release a new album in January 2025.