Shawn Austin (born January 13, 1989) is a Canadiancountry singer and songwriter. He has achieved five top ten singles at Canadian country radio, including "Tailgate to Heaven".[1]
After debuting as an independent artist, Austin signed withDallas Smith's label Steelhead Music and released the single "Paradise Found" in 2017.[3] The song peaked at number eight on theBillboardCanada Country chart giving Austin a top ten hit to start his career.[1] He followed it up with the single "Get Me There" in 2018.[4]
Later that year, Austin released "You Belong".[5][6] The track was the lead single off his debut six-track extended playShawn Austin, released on September 28, 2018.[7][8] In 2019, he released the single "What Do I Know",[9][10][11] which later peaked at number seven on Canada Country and became a new career high.[1] He followed that up with "The Little Things" in 2020.[12] That same year, he appeared on theNBC television showSongland in the United States, where he pitched a song titled "Ain't Goin' Nowhere" toFlorida Georgia Line, and later partnered withEster Dean on reworking it with the title "Lean On".[13][14] Ultimately, Austin finished as a runner-up, as Florida Georgia Line chose to record fellow Canadian songwriterGriffen Palmer's song "Second Guessing" instead.[15]
In August 2021, Austin signed withBig Loud Records and their Canadian-based imprint Local Hay,[16] a joint venture between the label,Dallas Smith, producer Scott Cooke, and partner Alex Seif.[17] He then released the single "Tailgate to Heaven" featuring American country singerChris Lane.[18][19] Austin was an opening act onDallas Smith's "Some Things Never Change Tour" in the spring and early summer of 2022.[20] In June 2022, he released the extended playPlanes Don't Wait, which included "Tailgate to Heaven" and the singles "Get You" and "Slip".[21][22] In 2023, Austin was an opener forOld Dominion on the Canadian dates of their "No Bad Vibes Tour".[22] Later that year, he released the extended playDirt Roads Downtown, which includes the single "Settle for a Drink".[23] In the spring of 2024, Austin embarked on "The Country Mixtape Tour" across Canada as a co-headliner alongsideTyler Joe Miller andAndrew Hyatt.[24] That same spring, he released the extended playWords.[25]
