Shawn Austin’s career has taken off over the past year, since he last visited the Enmax Centre with Dallas Smith.

Austin has a lot to be excited about in 2023 including building a new house and plenty of opportunities to build his career ever further.

“Every step of the way, every corner, every turn this year has brought opportunities I didn’t think were going to happen,” said Austin from Vancouver, taking a breather after returning from vacation in Cabo before embarking on another busy year.

 His breakout  single “Tailgate to Heaven” was recently certified Gold and was nominated for single of the year in the 2022 CCMA Awards. He is a flagship artist for Dallas Smith’s Local Hay Records.

 His latest single “Slip”  is his fastest climbing release to date.

And he is currently about to start the western Canadian leg of the No Bad Vibes tour with Old Dominion which stops by the Enmax Centre March 9 with Frank Ray and Steven Lee Olsen

“I’m good, I’m good, recently back from a week in Cabo, just kind of a nice little reset. But I have a hard time relaxing, so it’s nice to get back to work,” said Austin, getting ready to begin the next leg of the tour, in Edmonton, March 2.

 Austin was excited about “learning from the best” on the first leg of the Old  Dominion Tour.

 He is excited to be touring with  Old Dominion and fellow Whisky Jam members Frank Ray and Steven Lee Olson, a group of performers who have helped launched most of todays modern country scene according to Austin. They will each be playing an opening set of about 25 minutes each.

“It’s a full opener set split between Steven Lee, myself and Frank Ray. We basically give an hour of full on tunes to get everybody warmed up before Old Dominion comes up,” he said.

“ My set’s about 25 minutes long within the hour. It’s one of those deals where  we like to say we just play the hits. But there’s a little bit of stuff people will have hopefully have heard of  before. There’s a little bit of stuff that might be new because we love testing new songs on crowds because ultimately they’re the barometer for what’s a good track and what isn’t. It’s a fun, slammed hour. We all throw our best stuff on the table. We leave everything out there and from top to bottom it’s going to be a great one . Even if I had nothing to do with it I’d go to it as many times as possible. I promise it will be a great night for everybody,” he said, adding there isn’t a jam session planned with Old Dominion.

“ There’s nothing at the moment. We have this opportunity. It’s a privilege to be on stage, but I’ve said this a million times, but I’m a country music fan first, and when we’re done  doing our job, we jump down, grab a drink and we just learn from the best that is Old Dominion and we’re just one of the fans taking in every second and it’s like going to school every night. And I don’t think there’s really much better opportunities than live shows to learn how to do your craft better,” he said.

“Any time you get a chance to tour is a special one. This is a little bit different though. These guys have been so great in so many ways and just opening so many doors. I love seeing how different bands especially at this level how they operate their business and their live show and all that. So it’s only three shows so far and seven more to go,  and I’ve got a lot more questions and a lot more things that I’ve got to learn. But it’s been great. It’s been a really special experience and the shows have been phenomenal,” he continued, adding he always learns  a lot from touring with people like his mentor Dallas Smith.

“ It’s just after being able to tour with Dallas Smith and being on the road with a few other different people . Everybody has their own way of operating. In Old Dominion’s case, they‘re just so incredible making sure they have a great hospitality aspect to their show for their VIPs and their fans. And it's something that I think makes such a huge amount of sense. And  something I’ll be definitely doing in the future. I’ll steal that idea all day long. That’s just one of many things that are starting to come up. We’re about to take the turn at the end of the month on the west coast part of  the tour and play my home town of Vancouver before we do the rest of Canada. And I know there’s going to be umpteen things that I’ll  try to learn in the process there,“ he said.

 He is excited to play his home town after having such a successful year.

“Playing home town shows I think for for every artist is a really special thing. This one though I’ve never had the chance to play in Rogers Arena. And this is the place I’ve seen so many of my favourite musicians over the years and the home of my Vancouver Canucks. So it’s particularly a special moment. It’s a bit of a milestone for me. And  the whole friends and family everyone’s coming out to the show. So it will mean a little bit more,” he said.

 He has had an exciting year, including getting a gold record for “ Tailgates To Heaven.”

“ You don’t expect anything like this. I’m a guy with a guitar. I’m a musician that just loves to play music. When you can put out songs that people connect with to such a degree that you can actually hit professional milestones like a gold record. It’s hard to put into words . It’s hard to wrap my head around, but it makes me want more,” he chuckled.