Touching down a few days before his performance, Tyler Shaw says he was happy to be back in his home province to perform in Sidney.
The B.C.-born musician played to an excited crowd Sunday at the Mary Winspear Centre.
“I don’t get home often but when I’m home, it’s like seeing little guys like my little brother here and little sister and all my family, it’s good.”
Performing at a few other stops on his Canadian radio promo tour, he said places like the Mary Winspear Centre with intimate crowds allow an artist to connect more with the audience. Shaw said it’s neat because you can see everyone’s facial expressions whether they are crying or laughing. He said its an overall good vibe.
“I grew up playing acoustic guitar, playing just that … doing the smaller shows and that’s where my roots are from … that’s me.”
One of his big hits, House of Cards, which was played at the concert, took two full days to make into a video. A tiring process, but worthwhile, he said, as it topped the charts and is one of Shaw’s most popular songs.
One aspect of the song is that it has a woman as a superhero instead of the commonly used male dominated hero.
Shaw said when it comes to his heroes, he has many and they are always changing.
“Growing up it was from my mother to my grandfather to family and now it’s different artists and just people who are kind of living the dream where I want to get to.”
He said he also sets many goals for himself and his big one is to perform internationally.
“I want to touch people as far as I can from around the world. I really want to see what people think.”
At 22. Shaw has accomplished many of his goals.
He said what inspires him can be found while walking somewhere. He could see a couple and he wants to write a song or a conversation.
“It’s pretty weird,” he said with a laugh. “It’s never what I ever thought — that I would be singing and doing this for a living.”
When it comes to his best moments, he said every show is a good moment.
“Every show, just seeing how my music touches my fans and the people. It’s a really good feeling and that’s the main reason why I do it is for people to relate to what I’m feeling. Even if its not exactly what the song means to me, it could be something totally different but at least they could relate to it.”