Even though summer plans and parties were cancelled this year due to the pandemic, let Canadian artist Tyler Shaw bring some summer fun back into your quarantine. The Vancouver native, who shot to fame with his 2012 hit “Kiss Goodnight”, recently released “Remember”, the first track of his upcoming 2021 album.
Tyler, who initially wanted to become a professional soccer player while in college, had always found positivity through music.
“I have been writing music since I was thirteen, it was always a part of me and an escape from reality. Now that everything’s shifted, it’s funny because playing soccer is now my outlet, it’s a complete 180,” he said.
After deciding on his path, Tyler made his music debut with “Kiss Goodnight” and “By My Side”, captivating listeners with his affectionate vocals and feel-good lyrics. With “Remember”, his characteristically upbeat writing style combined with his infectious dance melody seems like a breath of fresh air amidst the dire events of 2020.
“The timing and messaging of the song completely made sense to release now, especially now with the pandemic,” he said. A summer dance tune that highlights an inspiring optimistic tone, “Remember” reminds us to cling to the hope of a better tomorrow.
“The basic concept of the song is to capture and to remember when you feel good in order to get through the eventual bad things in life. When you remember the good times while in a bad situation it will help you get out of that bad situation or make it easier,” he added.
Continuing his message of positivity and hope, Tyler is also spearheading ArtistsCAN, a collaborative project with fellow Canadian pop stars that raises COVID-19 relief funds for the country. Among these are the likes of Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Sarah McLachlan and Avril Lavigne. One of their latest initiatives was to raise money for the Canadian Red Cross, for which they performed the late, great Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” on the TV special, Stronger Together: Tous Ensemble. The performance garnered over 10 million streams, providing not only financial relief, but a message of hope as well.
“It all came together in early April, when I was feeling that I wasn’t contributing to society much. So I was on the phone with my manager, and we started talking about Bill Withers, who wrote the song, and we were like, ‘This song is so perfect for what the world needs to hear right now,’” he shared, “So I thought; ‘why don’t I cover it?’” and that snowballed into, ‘How about we get as many artists as we can get and get a charity involved and really give back to the community?’”