Singer Tyler Shaw is touring again after focusing on family during pandemic pause

Nothing brings more happiness than starting a family with someone that you love. Canadian-born singer and Ottawa resident Tyler Shaw found that happiness after focusing on his family during the lockdown caused by the pandemic.

Now, Shaw is returning to his music career with the North Star Tour.

From an early age, Shaw has been surrounded by music. When he was in sixth grade, he joined his school band and played the drums. By the age of 13, he was learning to play piano and guitar on his own. The next instrument that Shaw wants to learn is the cello.

From the age of 13, music was only a thought for a career until Shaw decided to go for it and released his first album Yesterday and decided to continue with it.

“The earliest memory I have of music is sitting in the backseat of my mom’s car,” Shaw shared in an interview ahead of his tour stop in Ottawa.

“My brother was in the passenger seat and the Backstreet Boys came on and naturally I had to sing along to it, ‘I Want It That Way,’ and I just went for it and I remember my brother turning around and being like, ‘He’s singing!’ and I got really embarrassed.”

Shaw comes from a musical family. His mother played and taught piano lessons and his great-grandparents were a wedding band in Northern Saskatchewan, travelling all across the province performing. Shaw’s mother and grandmother were both influences.

Shaw’s other influences include Michael Bublé, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake and many artists from various genres over the years. These are also artists that Shaw would like to do a collaboration with in the future.

Since his first tour in 2016, Shaw had toured every year but stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic. During his time off, he focused on his family and had a daughter with his partner.

Now, while going back to tour, one of the biggest challenges Shaw faces is being away from his daughter for a long period of time.

Shaw is returning to tour on Nov. 9, starting in Peterborough and ending in Toronto on Dec. 8. Shaw is performing at the Algonquin Commons Theatre on Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m.

“If you’re an artist, authenticity is super important to me and it should be when you’re doing your artistry and creating your craft,” Shaw said.

“It goes hand-in-hand in terms of how you go about life, to be yourself and not being afraid of trying to make others happy. Don’t pay attention to that, as long as you’re happy, that’s what matters and you can’t have that external happiness. It has to come from within yourself.”