Owen Riegling “Born Again” Single: A New Chapter in Canadian Country

Owen Riegling’s Evolution: Why “Born Again” Feels Like a Turning Point

There’s a specific kind of pressure that comes after a song like “Old Dirt Roads.” When you become the voice of small-town Ontario overnight, the easy move is to just keep rewriting that same hit. But with his latest single, “Born Again,” Owen Riegling is proving he’s more interested in growth than repetition.

If 2024 was the year Owen became a household name—playing 110+ dates alongside heavyweights like Tyler Hubbard and Jake Owen—then 2026 is the year he’s finding his own lane.

Leaving the Comfort Zone

The new track comes after a heavy stint in Nashville, co-writing with some of the industry’s top hitmakers. You can hear that “Music City” polish, but it hasn’t scrubbed away the grit that made us fans in the first place. Produced by Oscar Charles, “Born Again” manages to feel big enough for a stadium while staying intimate enough for a dive bar.

It’s a song about perspective. Inspired by his life back home and his relationship with his wife, it captures that feeling of finding a love or a purpose that makes everything else—the long tours, the noise, the pressure—finally click into place.

“I’m out here doing me—and that’s all I’m trying to do,” Riegling says. It’s a simple sentiment, but you can hear that self-assuredness in the vocal delivery. He isn’t trying to sound like Nashville; he’s using Nashville to sound more like himself.

From “Emerging Artist” to the Main Stage

It feels like a lifetime ago that Riegling won the Boots & Hearts Emerging Artist showcase. Since then, he’s racked up over 150 million streams and a shelf full of CCMA awards. But the most impressive part of his trajectory isn’t the stats—it’s the work ethic.

He’s a self-described “road warrior,” and that shows in his schedule for the coming months. From supporting Luke Bryan to a career-defining headlining set at Massey Hall on April 18th, Owen is putting in the miles to prove he belongs on those marquee posters.

The Verdict

“Born Again” follows the momentum of his previous hit “Taillight This Town,” but it feels more personal. It’s the sound of a songwriter who has stopped trying to fit a mold and started trusting his gut.

For those of us who have followed him since the Bruce County days, this new era feels less like a departure and more like a homecoming. Owen Riegling is still the guy from Mildmay—he’s just playing on much bigger stages now.