Owen Riegling
Bruce County (From The Beginning)
Album · Country · 2024
Owen Riegling introduced himself with Bruce County, a short and sweet sampler of the Ontario singer-songwriter’s take on contemporary pop country. On this expanded version, Riegling spreads out four of the original EP’s five tracks among seven additional songs, serving up a fuller account of the breadth of his eclectic talents.
Produced by Brad Hill (Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris), Bruce County (From the Beginning) opens with “Moonshines,” a groovy Southern rocker that cleverly plays off the titular contraband. “Dan” is a detail-rich ode to the everyman who’s “got an old Silverado” and “grows smoke in the back 40 on family land.” “Bud Light the Way” makes use of wordplay to celebrate the healing powers of a frosty brew. And “Old Dirt Road” offers snippets of Riegling’s origin story, painting a portrait of the “little patch of heaven” that raised him. Highlights from the From the Beginning batch of tunes include “In My Head Again,” which almost veers into Weezer territory with its infectious power-pop chorus, and closing track “The Call,” a tear-jerking tribute to a lost friend.