One song that’s helped catapult young Ontario country singer-songwriter Owen Riegling to more than 110 million cumulative global streams of his music is called “Home Less.” It references the fact that his recently surging popularity has made time back home in rural Ontario harder to come by. (Sample lyric: “I love that I’m seeing more, but hate that I’m home less.”)
Between recent U.S. tour dates opening for Brett Young, Riegling did return home to Mildmay for Canadian Thanksgiving, taking time out for an interview with Words & Music. He admitted that he has yet to fully reflect upon his rapid career ascent of the past two years. “I have to do that as time flies by so fast, and there have been so many things that have happened,” he says.
“Every once in a while, I’ll catch up with my parents again and they’ll ask what’s new, but it’s hard to even remember all the things we’ve done. I want to write things out that are memorable to me, and things I want to hold on to.”
Select the image to access the YouTube video of the Owen Riegling song “Old Dirt Roads”
Riegling will also need to organize his rapidly filling trophy case. Earlier this year, he won the Country Music Association of Ontario Rising Star Award, and, in September, he won two Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards, for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (for his Platinum-certified hit, “Old Dirt Roads”). He was also named a Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch and Amazon Canada Breakthrough Artist to Watch 2024.
Of all these accolades, he’s proudest of the CCMA songwriting trophy. “That one means the most to me,” he says. “Songwriting is the reason I’m doing what I’m doing, and I started with that at age nine. I wrote ‘Old Dirt Roads’ as a kid in his college apartment, not having a clue about how to make anything work in the music business, but definitely wanting to figure it out.
“I wrote that song purely from a songwriter’s mindset,” he continues. “I wasn’t trying to chase a hit, or create something that sounded like something else. I just wrote it ‘cause I missed home and the things we used to do, the roads we used to ride down. It’s very cool that it won the award for me. I started playing it live at my bar gigs, and at the fair five years ago, so it’s an old song to us. The fact that it’s fresh to everyone else is kind of funny to us.”
After paying his proverbial dues singing country covers and a few originals in the bars, a slot at the huge Boots and Hearts festival helped bring Riegling to the attention of Universal Music Canada, who signed him to a record deal in 2023.
Confirming that “Old Dirt Roads” was no fluke, subsequent Riegling compositions have all notched major streaming numbers, while multiple cross-Canada tours have established his credentials as a performer. His biggest headline tour of Canada to date, “The Old Dirt Road Trip,” runs Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, 2024, and included a performance at The Grey Cup in Vancouver on Nov. 17.
Riegling has started to make the transition from writing alone, or co-writing with friends, into the Nashville method of co-writing. “I’m used to writing with people like Daryl Scott, Jesse Slack, and Ryan Kennedy, who are friends,” he says. “Our guards are down ‘cos we know each other personally and how everyone operates in the room. I’ve now been working with American writers I don’t know, and that’s a little out of my comfort zone.
“In Nashville, if you go into a room with somebody who knows nothing about you, you have to get to know each other, so you can feel comfortable enough to get vulnerable at times, and say whatever is on your mind. That’s a bit trickier for me to do, but I’m getting better at it.”
“I’ve now been working with American writers I don’t know, and that’s a little out of my comfort zone”
Solo songwriting remains one of Riegling’s preferred creative tools. “I have to still write by myself, as I enjoy it,” he says. “Plus I’m on the road so much these days, it’s just easier to write by myself. Any moment I’m not at a soundcheck, or in the car, I can pick up a guitar and start writing. I don’t have to set a time, or work to anybody else’s schedule.”
The siren call of Nashville is now one that Riegling can’t resist. “We’re actually planning to move down there for the first half of 2025,” he reveals. “I want to be down there in the songwriting community, and I plan to write every day, and try to put some great songs together. Canada will always be my home, and where I want to play, and settle down, but I definitely want to tour the U.S. and bring my sound to them. That is our focus for the next couple of years.”
Assisting in his goal of breaking into the U.S. market is heavyweight American talent representation company The Familie, home to such stars as Machine Gun Kelly and Avril Lavigne. Earlier this year, via its new country music division, The Familie partnered with Riegling’s’ management and production company Workshop Music Group to co-manage him, a major boost for his Stateside aspirations.
Select the image to access the YouTube video of the Owen Riegling song “Moonshines”
Given the string of streaming hits Riegling has written or co-written, it’s a tad surprising that he hasn’t yet signed with a music publisher. “I own all my publishing,” he explains. “We’ve been weighing the pros and cons of publishing deals. I’d like to write for other artists, too, and involve myself in the songwriting community, so having a publisher might be great for that.”
Riegling continues to write, record, and release new material. His current single, “Moonshines,” is in the Canadian Country Radio Top 10; he’s the guest vocalist on Mackenzie Porter’s new single, “Coming Home To You (Bigger House)”; and on Nov. 1, 2024, he released a deluxe version of his Bruce County EP, featuring a new original song, “The Call.”
At just 25, Riegling is a very self-aware individual, one who realizes he’s still finding his true identity. “The past two years in my career has been an experimental time for me, to figure out who I am, what I want to say, and how I want to say it,” he says. “I’m trying to learn about myself through my music, and I feel I’m reaching that point.
“I think this next project we’ll have in the pipeline, that I’ve been writing for and experimenting with, will be a little more concentrated. More, ‘So, this is how Owen is.’ I’ve been writing all year and have a number of songs I’m super-excited about.”