One-on-One with Owen Riegling, Emerging
Country Music Star and Small-Town Kid
Riffing on humble beginnings, life on the road,
and his new hit single “Home Less”.
There’s an unmistakable wisdom to singer-songwriter Owen Riegling that defies his years and youthful disposition. You can hear it in his voice, actually. It's like he's somehow lived a thousand years, and a thousand lives at the same time. While his highly relatable jams may fit seamlessly into your modern-day country music playlist, there’s a timeless quality and depth to his lyrics that transcend anything you’d hear on FM radio.
With his new music video “Home Less” making the rounds, a fresh EP in the recently released Bruce County available now on streaming, and tour dates popping up throughout North America, Owen was kind enough to sit down with Team GOVX to talk shop.
GOVX
“Home Less” contains a clear message and narrative around the struggle that comes with living your dream yet yearning for the stability and familiarity of home. Can you speak to a little bit of the process behind writing "Home Less” and where you found inspiration?
OWEN RIEGLING
I wrote the song about two years ago, when things were just starting to get busier than they’d ever been in my career. I was making my way across the country from east to west and spending a lot of time looking out the window for eight hours at
a time.
I dreamt for the last decade of my life of getting to a point where I could travel across the country and play music for my fans at live shows. I found myself in this weird spot where I was away all the time and missing what I had in my life before. When I was just dreaming of what would come to be. It was a difficult headspace to be in.
On one hand, I loved that I was getting to do this, see new places, and meet new people. But in the back of my mind, a little part of me hated that I hadn’t seen my family in months, hadn’t been home with my now fiancée in far too long, and was just really struggling with change. It’s ironic, when I was home, I wanted to be out chasing this dream down, and then now that I’m out on the road, I wanted to be home.
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GOVX
A strong portion of the GOVX community are active and former duty servicemembers who are familiar with deployment and the perils of being far from home. Do you feel like this song will especially resonate with those who’ve served.
OWEN RIEGLING
I feel like the idea of pursuing a dream, but still trying to hold onto where you came from is something we can all relate to. That balance between what you do for a career and who you are at home. I wasn’t trying to write the song as a universal message, but I think it connects with people on a deeper level.
Anyone who’s in unfamiliar territory can find a piece of it that relates to them, especially like you said, if they have a military background. I’m just a guy with pen, paper and a guitar. I’m so thankful that people who are doing much more important things than I am are finding the song and letting it speak to them.
DAVE
Retired Firefighter – Chief Coffee Roaster
JACOB
Licensed Q Grader – Director of Coffee
GOVX
In the song, you referenced the Rocky Mountains. At GOVX, we’re big on National Parks, having previously created gear guides and encouraged our members to get out and visit as many as they can. What impact did seeing the mountains up close have on you?
OWEN RIEGLING
Honestly, that represented the first time I’d ever really been around mountains of that size. I really didn’t grow up around anything like that, so it was foreign to me. The first time being in the presence of the Rocky Mountains just blew me away. It’s equally the most intimidating and the most exciting thing ever. It made such an impact on me that I got a tattoo to commemorate the experience on my left arm.
But specifically when I wrote that lyric, it was immediately after I saw the silhouette of the mountains in the midnight sky. You could see the peaks poking out ominously in the middle of the clouds. As soon as I saw that, I wrote down the lyrics in my phone and started working on the song.
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GOVX
Country music continually ranks as the highest streaming music genre within the GOVX community, especially when it comes to modern artists. For those who may be unfamiliar with your previous work, how would you best describe your music outside of “Home Less”?
OWEN RIEGLING
There’s definitely elements of Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean in there, as I’m a huge fan of both those guys. With the new EP Bruce County, there’s more of a tip of the cap to their kind of sound, with the heavier rock influence and extended guitar solos.
With that said, I’d definitely say that some of my songs lean more in the rock direction, especially “In My Head Again”. A song like “Home Less” could also appeal to those who have an eclectic taste. So it’s hard for me to nail down my exact sounds as an artist. I'm heavily inspired by bands like Weezer and Brothers Osborne and their influence is in there as well.
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GOVX
With the Extended Play version of Bruce County available to stream, can you tell us a little bit about the album?
OWEN RIEGLING
Definitely. It’s a shorter collection of songs that I’m real proud of. I sort of pulled from real-life experiences I’ve had growing up on dirt roads and skipping class in high school. Thematically, it’s about me missing home and the way things use to be. I grew up in a town of about a thousand people, and that life is all I’ve ever known.
It’s where I draw my inspiration from. How I was raised. The hard-working community I hail from. Those are all integral parts of my music and I’ve set out to put the same level of work and dedication into my music. That’s what it’s about and what it will continue to be about.
GOVX
You’ve been described as a "Blue Collar Guy”, how has your background influenced your journey as a musical artist?
OWEN RIEGLING
Being from a small community and a blue collar town is something that is very much a common thread with a lot of today’s country music artists. We’re people who are grounded, who appreciate the little things, and take pride in keeping things close knit. That’s why I love country music, it’s a genre of music that doesn’t fantasize about having more. It’s about having gratitude for what you have. You can sing about eating fried chicken and it’s the coolest sh-- ever.
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DAVE
Retired Firefighter – Chief Coffee Roaster
STREAM BRUCE COUNTY ON
