From Burton, New Brunswick, Canada

riley taylor

Performing: Saturday September 6th

One thing you can't accuse Riley Taylor of is a lack of ambition. The 26-year-old "barrel-toned" country singer and songwriter from Burton, New Brunswick, makes a statement with his debut offering that's nothing short of audacious: a 30-song introductory effort called Story To Tell that is sure to set music industry tongues wagging.

Of the 30, all produced by Adam Newcomb, half are Taylor originals or co-writes – including "Hometowns," the current single rocketing up the charts – and the rest are contributions from names you'll recognize as the cream of the Canadian country crop of talented songwriters and performers: Jade Eagleson, Owen Riegling, Daryl Scott, Jesse Slack, Dave Thomson, Patricia Conroy, Aaron Goodvin, Griffen Palmer and others. They add their own personal touches to the remainder of the material except for the original twists Taylor provides on three cover songs: The Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers," Matchbox Twenty's "3AM” and Live's "Lightning Crashes."

"I wanted to do something different and make a memorable impression," says Taylor. "I'm a late bloomer and I'm still playing catch-up."

Envisioning Kentucky neo-traditionalist Tyler Childers as his spirit country musician, Taylor expanded his horizons and toured across Canada with Eagleson, Riegling, Brett Kissel, Sacha, Jason McCoy, Michelle Wright, Doc Walker, Robyn Ottolini, Kip Moore and Cooper Alan over the past few years, while honing his performing and songwriting chops.

"I gleaned every little tidbit, any little nugget I could from any artist I was around, big or small," says Taylor. "I'm just trying to respect the craft and acknowledge how hard it is to see it through."

And the thing is – he's just getting started. The early returns of Taylor's music have caught the ears of several radio music programmers coast-to-coast, amassing 5 million global streams in just 16 months to the point where he graced the covers of Apple Music’s Canada’s Country and Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Country playlists. Featured on the Today's Country playlist for the past couple of years, the Honky Tonk Record Co. artist is turning heads everywhere he goes. And now that he knows he can do it, avid fisherman, basketball fan and pineapple pizza lover Riley Taylor knows what he wants to achieve.

And when you spin Story To Tell – which clicks in at an hour and 45 minutes – you'll hear Riley Taylor's abilities for yourself and realize what everyone who has already been exposed to this amazing talent has: his breakthrough is imminent.

"Better Days" are in store for Riley Taylor.