If you ask anyone floating around the Canadian country orbit right now, they will tell you the same thing: Shawn Austin is the name you can’t escape. It is a meteoric rise that feels earned rather than manufactured. Between the lingering heat of his collaboration with U.S. titan Chris Lane on "Tailgate to Heaven" and the aggressive radio ascent of his latest track, "Slip," Austin has found himself in that rare sweet spot where industry respect meets genuine commercial velocity.
The momentum is hitting a fever pitch as he prepares to take the stage at London’s Budweiser Gardens on Jan. 30. He is grabbing the opening slot for Old Dominion’s No Bad Vibes Tour, a high-stakes gig for any artist looking to cement their status. For Austin, a multi-CCMA nominee who has spent years grinding in the trenches, this feels like the definitive arrival.
We caught up with him during a frantic rehearsal break in Nashville. You could hear the hum of gear and the organized chaos of a tour prep in the background. He sounds like a man who understands the gravity of the moment but refuses to let the pressure kill the fun. London has always been a pivot point for his career, and returning to the Forest City feels like a homecoming of sorts.
When asked about his return to London after his June stint with Dallas Smith, Austin does not hide his enthusiasm for the local crowd.
"Honestly, I can’t wait," Austin says. "I've always loved spending time in London. I just feel like the city is so cool to begin with, but then obviously when you work with the country side of it all, the fans are different than anywhere else. There's more vibe. There's just something about London—you know you're in for a party every time you go there and getting to perform with Old Dominion is a dream come true. The show's going to be insane. And I have nothing but good things to say."
But getting on a bill like Old Dominion isn’t just about having a hit song. It is a complex chess match of timing, relationships and raw persistence. In an industry that often forgets you the second you stop posting, Austin played the long game.
The backstory of this tour slot is a lesson in professional resilience. It was not a sudden phone call out of the blue, but rather a rekindling of a fire that almost went out during the global shutdown.
"It’s a little bit of everything," Austin explains. "We had a few shows lined up with them in 2020, which obviously fell apart. But I think as an artist one of the most important things that we can try to do is to stay visible—stay relevant, you know? Stay in the loop of things. And that's kind of all I could do over the pandemic was just trying to be at the front of people's minds and let everyone know that I didn't disappear and that kind of paid some dividends because I guess Old Dominion kept their eyes on what I was doing."
And that visibility is the hardest currency to maintain when the stages go dark. Austin managed to keep the pilot light on while the rest of the world was hibernating.
"Once we released Tailgate to Heaven and things started to pick up again, I was told they were still super happy to stay in touch with me," he continues. "And then when this opportunity came up, that I was one of the people they wanted to work with. I mean, it's a hell of a compliment. You know, I was covering Old Dominion stuff 10 years ago in restaurants around Vancouver, so the powers that be and my team, their team—all the teams—made it work. Thankfully, I got the nod from them because they ultimately make the final decision. And like I said, it's one of the biggest compliments I think you can get professionally, when you get support from your peers. Now I just can't wait to get started."
There is a certain irony in an artist who used to play covers for tips now sharing a catering table with the very people he was mimicking. But "Tailgate to Heaven" changed the math for him. It provided a bridge to the Nashville elite through Chris Lane.
The song was not just a chart-topper; it was a career-altering event. It shifted Austin from a "one to watch" to a "one who has arrived."
"I think when you record a song and write a song, you'd like to think you have a good idea and that it could have some legs to it," Austin says. "In this case, I didn't ever think it was going to be such a life changing song for me, in addition to getting to work with Chris Lane, who I’ve been a fan of for so long. To have him as a buddy now through a song is amazing. It's opened up so many doors and I kind of feel like it took a lot of weight off my shoulders."
And that weight he mentions is the crushing anxiety of the two-year hiatus every performer endured. The industry felt like it was resetting, and the fear of being left behind was very real.
As a writer, I don't think there’s a bigger honour than when somebody wants to put out a song you wrote. ...It's fun to be part of someone else's growth and career. We all want the headline slots and we all want to build on our own momentum, but at the same time, we're still just supporting each other and we just want everyone to win in any way possible.
"After sitting for two years, you know, I think we all felt like we were starting from scratch to the degree," Austin admits. "But then when we put that track out there, it just lit up and everyone had such great things to say about it. After we all started playing live again, it was incredible seeing the crowd just sing it back to us with so much passion. I mean, that's why we do this. That's really like a drug for an artist—that connection of energy with your crowd. When lightning strikes, you try to capture it the best way you can."
The radio play in London has been particularly aggressive, and Austin knows exactly who to thank. He is quick to credit the gatekeepers who have kept his tracks in high rotation.
"Those guys at Country 104 in London. Let me tell you—wow," he says. "Matt Weaver has been such a great supporter for so long. I think the people that are involved in all aspects of the business make the genre as great as it is, especially in Canada. You can meet anybody in this industry and go for a beer with them and have a great time, and Weaver has been that guy for me for so long."
It is a refreshing lack of ego in a business that usually demands it. Austin treats his relationships with radio programmers like genuine friendships rather than transactional hurdles.
"We've had some great chats, and I'll send him songs that we haven't released yet just to get his ears on it, getting his opinion," Austin notes. "He’s always been there for me, and I'll always be there for him and for the entire Country 104 radio station. If you're hearing a lot of me lately, that's all we as artists can really hope for, and it’s a great feeling."
But while "Tailgate" was the door-opener, "Slip" is the one currently burning up the data sheets. It is hovering near the Top 15 with 12 million audience impressions and a staggering 100,000 streams every week. The interesting part? Austin did not see it coming.
"Yeah, it's a song that I completely didn't expect to do this—become my fastest growing song," he says. "It's kind of had a little bit of the overwhelming amount of support so fast. I thought initially this was going to be a great live song, and a really good album track—but I honestly never thought it would be a single, but clearly, I was wrong and I love being proved wrong."
This is where the technical critique comes in. In a world of focus groups and A&R data, it is almost alarming that an artist can be so disconnected from the commercial potential of their own work. But perhaps that lack of premeditation is why the song works. It sounds organic because it was not designed to be a "product."
"I'm really excited to see where it ends, and the timing couldn’t work better with the tour going on," Austin continues. "It'll be fun to get out there and play it live, while hopefully everyone's getting their ears on it on a regular basis. We have goals and we have numbers that we try to hit just for our own peace of mind to make sure that we're doing something right. But these numbers for Slip are far beyond what we were hoping for. I'm constantly a student of this industry and music and every day brings some kind of surprise or some lesson that I haven't learned in the past. This has certainly been one of them."
Beyond his own vocals, Austin has been quietly building a resume as a formidable songwriter for others. He has credits on Nate Haller’s "Lightning in a Bottle" and a duet with Kelly Prescott on "Running Out of Road." He is becoming the industry’s worst-kept secret in the writers' room.
"I absolutely love to write, and I love being able to work on that part of the process," he says. "It’s actually been years since Lightning in the Bottle was written, and that was one I cowrote with Gavin Slate and Travis Wood. I think it was back in 2017. I thought I was going to be able to put it out as my own, and it just never kind of worked out. So, it went into the wilderness."
The fact that a song can sit in "the wilderness" for five years before becoming a hit for someone else is the quintessential Nashville story. It is about the song finding the right vessel.
"When I found out that Nate was going to put it out, I mean, as a writer, I don't think there’s a bigger honour than when somebody wants to put out a song you wrote," Austin explains. "That kind of lit a fire under my butt on top of the stuff that was going on around the same time with Songland. And so really, writing has been that muscle that I haven't really flexed as much as I wanted to. But now that things are starting to settle a little more, and our years are planned out a little bit better, it's something that I really want to dig into more."
He seems genuinely thrilled for Haller’s success, which speaks to the tight-knit nature of the Canadian country scene.
"Lightning in a Bottle was Nate’s debut and it hit the Top 10—that’s incredible," Austin says. "It's fun to be part of someone else's growth and career. We all want the headline slots and we all want to build on our own momentum, but at the same time, we're still just supporting each other and we just want everyone to win in any way possible. And that’s a pretty nice place to be. As for when Kelly asked me to be on that song, it was another unbelievable compliment. That someone would trust me enough to be part of their project—I just love it and can’t wait to do more. When you find those little easter eggs and you get a kick out of it, it’s just fun."
His own listening habits are as eclectic as his writing style. He is not just consuming country; he is studying the architecture of modern pop and soul.
"Oh, everybody," he says when asked who is on his playlist. "I'm a big Kameron Marlow fan. I think his voice is insane. The stuff he's putting out as wild. I really like all the new Kane Brown stuff—and I love what he's doing with his wife. I love Madeline Merlo and I’m excited for everything she's putting out—her latest stuff has been fantastic. I go onto all the different playlists new releases every week—it's one of my favourite days of the week—just because I want to see what people are doing what they're up to. It's always fun to hear somebody break something new, and that’s all part of the learning process, as well."
But if you want to know where Austin’s heart truly lies, look at his dream collaborations. It is not just the current Nashville "it" crowd. He has a deep appreciation for the legends.
"I've thought about this for many, many years," he confesses. "I've a mutt when it comes to music and pull influence from so many different genres. And the truth is, anytime an opportunity comes up where you can collab with somebody, it’s unbelievable, and I would never turn down any opportunity. That being said, over my—you know—however many years I've been on this planet, Michael Bublé has been a huge influence on me. I'm a huge fan of him. It’s kind of corny, but I'd love to do a Christmas track with him. Or one of the old standards."
And while a Bublé Christmas duet might sound like a left turn for a guy singing about tailgates, it makes sense when you hear the control in Austin’s voice. He has the range for it.
"I would love to work with Maren Morris," he adds. "I would have loved to work with people that have passed away too. Freddie Mercury would have been incredible. Stevie Ray Vaughan would have been incredible. There’s just so many people out there that I’d love to work with. Now, after doing the song with Chris Lane, I'm kind of hoping some more opportunities come up. I'm starting to reach out to a few people because I've got some things that I think would be great with collabs, and so hopefully that stuff comes through and in a year's time we can have this conversation again."
As the Jan. 30 date at Budweiser Gardens approaches, the anticipation in London is hitting a fever pitch. Fans from across Southwestern Ontario are expected to flood the city. Austin is ready to give them exactly what they paid for.
"I think we're truly as excited to be there as they are, hopefully, to see us," Austin says. "It’s going to be a pretty wild show, and it’s going to be one you’re not going to want to miss. I promise we’re going to keep everyone on their feet. We just can't wait."
It is a bold promise, but given the trajectory Austin is on, betting against him would be a mistake. He is no longer just another name on a poster; he is the reason people are buying the ticket.
