Martin Rupprecht met Fine at Juno nomination event in Toronto
Qualicum Beach's Martin Rupprecht is getting ready for his first-ever tour, which will seem him join Jamie Fine for three shows this October.
The hip-hop and pop artist, whose stage name is Amarii, will open for four-time Juno nominee Fine at dates in in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
"I'm just getting like mentally prepared because it's my first official tour, so the nerves are there for sure," said Rupprecht.
He met Fine in Toronto at a Juno nomination event, when his producer Kayla Diamond brought him as a guest and introduced the two of them. Fine mentioned she was a fan of Rupprecht's song 'Play Me Again'.
"She said, 'you should come on tour with me'. I was very excited to say yeah to that."
Rupprecht has been rehearsing his set list "constantly" and will fly to Toronto ahead of the tour to rehearse with his team.
'Play Me Again', his first single, was released earlier this year, and was one of five songs he recorded at a session in Montreal. After he realized it was gaining more and more traction on social media, he chose it as his debut single for his upcoming album.
Rupprecht is always writing new music and his latest single 'Trash My Reputation' came out in early September.
"I have a lot of songs in the vault right now," he said. "Some will be used for my next EP after this EP but some maybe not."
For Rupprecht, writing music is like therapy and he takes a lot of inspiration from his past experiences, including growing up in foster care. He chose the name Amarii because liked the sound of it and appreciated that it means "eternal."
He signed with the new record label Kolossal Records, founded by Kayla Diamond, in 2024. Diamond, his producer, will perform with him on stage during the tour.
Rupprecht aims to inspire people and show that an artist from a small town on Vancouver Island can make it.
He hopes to see as many locals as possible come out and show their support.
"I want to encourage people to come out to the show in Vancouver if you can," he said.
The Edmonton show is scheduled for Oct. 23, followed by Calgary (Oct. 24) and Vancouver (Oct. 27).
Rupprecht encourages people to reach out to him about tickets via social media. His handle is Amarii_YE on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.