In early August, country rising star, singer-songwriter, Owen Riegling dropped his second single and accompanying lyric video for “Old Dirt Roads” via Universal Music Canada. The song highlights his talent as a vocalist and undeniable skill as a wordsmith. Owen traveled to Nashville to record and collaborate with notable producer, Brad Hill (Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris, Brett Young), to bring his storytelling to life.
Owen Riegling is the kind of artist so down to earth his boots are always dirty. He’s a small town kid with his roots firmly planted in the songs he sings. When he sings about old dirt roads, young love or the simple pleasure of a cold beer on a Friday night, it’s not just words. He’s lived it. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter effortlessly captures the relatability of the most timeless country hits. Owen is the winner of the 2022 Emerging Artists Showcase at Boots & Hearts festival, which is taking him from his small farming hometown of Mildmay, Ontario to Universal Music Canada. A small-town boy through and through, his music strikes an addictive balance between universal feelings and personal stories performed with his trademark laid-back charm.
“I wrote this song at a time when I was living in the city for school. I was real sick of all the cars and traffic and started reminiscing on homeland how I grew up. Thinking about my friends and how we used to drive around backroads cause there was nothing else to do. My family has a 100-acre farm, the view from the back window of the wheat field — and just how peaceful that really is. Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted the simple things like that. But being away from it for a while sure made me want it back,” shares Owen.
“‘Old Dirt Roads’ paints the picture of where I grew up and where I currently still live, a place that is a part of me, a place that I plan to settle down and raise kids so they can have the luxury of growing up in a wide open spaces like I did. The “land of the wicked” if you will.” - Owen Riegling
Since the release of debut single, “Love (The Sweater Song)”, it’s been steadily climbing up the Canadian country radio charts and has garnered over 1.2 million global streams. Selected as iHeart Pure Country’s Future Star and currently Rogers Radio One To Watch for August, Owen is maintaining his unstoppable pace and ready to make his mark on the music industry. Riegling performed at the 2023 CMA Ontario awards and was also nominated for the Rising Star Award.
Owen's love for music has taken him from writing songs in his bedroom and playing in local bars to recording in Nashville and performing on the main stage of Canada’s largest country music festival. He will also be opening for Platinum-award singer/songwriter, Tyler Hubbard this fall. Tickets and full list of dates available HERE.
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