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Tyler Shaw likely to make up for cancelled Victoria show

The bad news? Tyler Shaw’s concert set for Victoria this week didn’t come to pass.

The bad news? Tyler Shaw’s concert set for Victoria this week didn’t come to pass.

The good news is that those still eager to see the Kiss Goodnight hitmaker will have the opportunity to do so tonight in Vancouver when the Coquitlam-raised, Toronto-based pop singer opens for Selena Gomez at Rogers Arena.

Shaw, 23, was pegged to perform Friday in the Dave Dunnet Community Theatre at Oak Bay High School. The show, which had already been moved from the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, was cancelled due to what the promoter called “a conflict in scheduling with the venue.”

Shaw will likely return in the near future. The solo acoustic show that was scheduled for Victoria is among his favourite type of performances, he said.

“Those face-to-face sessions are nice and easygoing, more of a hangout session,” Shaw said. “I love doing that stuff. That’s how I started. Even if I’m [at a point] where I’m selling out stadiums, I’d still love to do a stripped-down show.”

He was never supposed to be a singer. In fact, Shaw said his original plan was to play pro soccer. “In my eyes, I had a better chance of becoming a soccer playing than I did becoming a musician.”

Shaw was a student athlete playing soccer at the University of Prince Edward Island when his break as a musician appeared (after he became well known, Shaw’s song Showtime was named the official theme for the 2014 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Canada).

He eventually traded his cleats for a guitar and bested 13,000 applicants by winning a Much-Music contest in 2012. That led to his contract with Sony Music Canada. “After winning that contest, music wasn’t as far-fetched as I thought,” he said with a laugh.

His trajectory has been steep in the years since, including a 2014 Juno Award nomination for breakthrough artists of the year. Shaw’s debut album, Yesterday, released Sept. 4, includes all his hit singles to date: Kiss Goodnight, By My Side, It Happens All the Time and House of Cards. His newest addition to that pile, Wicked, recently hit the airwaves and has been winning Shaw new fans across the country.

“I’m not just a routine pop artist,” he said. “I have stuff to say, I have a voice.”

His performance in Vancouver tonight — his first of three with Gomez — caps a two-year run of shows that also includes tour dates with Kelly Clarkson, Pitbull and Joe Jonas.

Shaw can’t help but feel he’s in the right place at the right time. Thanks to the hard work of A-listers such as Drake, Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, in addition to rising stars such as Shawn Mendes, Carly-Rae Jepsen and Francesco Yates, there may not be a better time in history to be a pop artist from the Great White North.

“It’s a beautiful time for Canadian music,” he said. “It has definitely changed. Toronto and Canada have been put on the U.S. map. Eyes are on us now, and as much talent as we can get together from this amazing country, now is the time to do it.”

mdevlin@timescolonist.com