Wayfinding to the Spotlight: Emerging artist Tanner Olsen on discovering his voice and what drives his determination
Written by Lisa Battles
Internalizing the power of music, heartbreaking loss and resolute determination all stand as milestones along Tanner Olsen’s path from Chilliwack, BC to Nashville, Tennessee, by way of New York.
The emerging band leader has collected many life lessons from country-music-cranking bonfire parties along rural Canadian backroads to establishing himself in the epicenter of Music City’s live music scene. A decade in, his story has just begun.
Starting Points
While Olsen’s parents introduced him to piano lessons at age 5, and he went on to play in many school bands, his first love was for sports. A shared passion for lacrosse formed a bond with his father as he rose to become a star player.
“He would be at every practice, every late-night training session, whatever it was, he was always there,” Olsen says. “I fell in love with the sport just because I think it connected me with him the most.”
Olsen eventually earned a lacrosse scholarship to attend university in New York. During his two years there, he found his voice and discovered his true calling: music.
He and a teammate entered a talent contest “as a joke,” performing a Jason Mraz cover “to impress the girls.” Instead of laughter, they were met with awe — a reaction that set events in motion Olsen never expected.
“It just went crazy. People came up the stage, ogling over us, saying ‘Wow. That was so cool.’ We were just a couple of lacrosse guys. We didn’t know,” Olsen says. “Once I got a taste of that one little thing, I was like, ‘I think I want to do this as a career.’
“It just hit a spark in my brain that music can make people feel connected to words, feelings, emotions, a certain song … or whatever it is. It was seeing that people connected so hard with that and were genuinely passionate about what we were doing. That’s where I was like, ‘Okay, this is really cool. I love that.’”
Following the Signs
Around that time, another friend back in Canada urged Olsen to relocate to Edmonton, Alberta, and audition for a role as a music teacher. He dropped out of school, studied up on instruments beyond piano, and landed the job. After a while teaching, he moved back home to BC and launched what eventually became the Tanner Olsen Band.
Back home, a casual connection landed the band its first big appearance — a three-day, eight-show booking at the Abbotsford Agrifair in 2017. Once again, Olsen became a quick study and got a little help from his ever-supportive father, who stepped in as a prompter.
“I’m singing country music that I’ve heard on the radio and had just learned to play guitar. I was like, ‘I don’t know how to do this thing, man,’” Olsen says. “So he’s holding up these big poster board cue cards in the back of the stage. I was excessively reading them because I was like, ‘I don’t want to mess these words up.’ After that, we just kept getting booked and booked and booked,” he says.
Support to Change Course
Rock-solid backup came naturally for Olsen’s father, who he says chose intense jobs throughout his life, from serving on SWAT teams to providing personal security for high-profile musicians. That ethos for seizing opportunities and taking risks became a guiding principle.
“He tried things that he loved. When he got bored, he changed it,” Olsen says. “… I kind of always knew I didn’t just want to get a degree and work a job. I knew I wanted to be something bigger and different.”
Meanwhile, Olsen took a truck driving job while building his band’s local following, and talks with his dad often turned to Nashville. He wasn’t keen on giving up his comfortable lifestyle, making good money, driving a nice truck and paying for other toys, as he calls them. Even more, he also wasn’t all that confident in his abilities to make it in Nashville.
“[Dad] was like, ‘You have to do it. You gotta give everything you have and just try.’”
Not long after, Olsen’s father had a series of critical health scares, and in May 2023, passed away following a heart attack.
Eyes on the Road
After several months of working through the initial grief, Olsen carried through on those discussions about Nashville with his dad.
“I talked to that man every day of my life. He wouldn’t let me get off the phone without saying, ‘I love you.’ […] Losing him was the hardest thing ever,” Olsen says. “I got to a point where I just said, ‘You know what? Enough’s enough. Life’s too short.’ He would’ve wanted me to do this Nashville thing because he and I talked about it for so long.”
Olsen called his bandmates, who agreed to make the move despite having nothing lined up once they arrived—the first couple of months required relentless networking just to find the opportunity to secure their work visas. Soon after that, though, the Tanner Olsen Band was booking a dozen or more four-hour shows a week on Broadway.
“We’d play four hours at a bar, pack up our gear, run across the street, set it back up at a different bar, and play for another four hours,” Olsen says. “That’s the way that Broadway works. It’s chaos, amazing, tiring and a struggle most of the time to keep your voice from going.”
Olsen says the band’s living situation could be described in similar terms, which also wasn’t easy.
Staying the Course
Olsen’s father had left his kids some life insurance money, which he leveraged to make the move and support the group, especially in those first several months. They lived in a two-bedroom Airbnb, taking turns for who got stuck on the couch or floor.
“That was the only thing that allowed me to move. But that was like the sacrifice I knew my dad would’ve wanted me to make. I would rather risk literally everything I have to make this happen rather than play it safe. So it was really scary, but we just kept going,” Olsen says. “At the same time, I was grieving like crazy. It kind of felt like I just ran away from my life and my emotions. But it helped to have the guys with me.”
Steadfast in fulfilling his dreams, Olsen keeps his eyes trained on the horizon while his father’s memory lights the path. With each success, his command of the wheel becomes more confident. With any setback, he checks the rearview and tightens his grip.
Sometimes the compass points back to family time amid his hometown’s agricultural fields, massive trees and soaring mountain backdrops. At other times, it directs him back to that small stretch of towering, neon-emblazoned honky tonks in Tennessee or summertime festival crowds.
The next step for the Tanner Olsen Band is developing and recording more original material to make its mark far beyond Broadway. So far, though, Olsen says it’s been satisfying to set an example with all the band has accomplished so far, exemplifying his father’s passion for life and belief in taking chances.
“This stuff is possible, these weird, wild dreams. I am showing everyone back home and anywhere in the world that these things are possible. I think they can happen,” Olsen says. “You just have to try and even if you fail … that’s how you grow, how you learn — and what makes you who you are.”
