Aidan Canfield, a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Westchester County, New York, is quickly making a name for himself in the independent country scene. While it seems like every other week there are new, exciting artists to discover from Sam Barber to Wyatt Flores to Tucker Knisell, Canfield once again proves the immense amount of talent present in this generation’s crop of independent country artists.
Being featured in an earlier independent artist spotlight, Canfield has had a relatively quick rise. The 20-year-old has gone from posting covers on TikTok to opening up for Riley Green in just over two years.
Like many during the pandemic, Canfield took to his guitar and writing to pass the time. Being inspired by many artists from Zach Bryan and Kenny Chesney to Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger, it’s clear that he takes those inspirations and blends heartland rock and country throughout his songs.
Canfield began posting on TikTok in February 2021, regularly posting covers of popular artists ranging from Tyler Childers to Morgan Wallen to Zach Bryan. He got his first taste of success on the app after posting a cover of the then-unreleased Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan on Jan. 1, 2022. The cover garnered over 125k views and nearly 20k likes.
Flash forward to April 15, 2022, and he released his first single, The Idea of Me. The track is an excellent one, including an extremely melodic chorus that begs you to sing along. Lyrically, it feels very mature for the 20-year-old with the song hinging on ending a relationship due to superficial love and incompatibility.
Throughout 2022, Canfield released six more tracks in anticipation of his debut album, We’re Young, Alright, which came out on January 6, 2023. The record came out only a year after his first viral video on TikTok and contained five more songs. The 12-track, 44-minute album is filled with heartland rock-inspired country tunes that feel very similar to his inspirations, Zach Bryan and Bruce Springsteen.
2023 has proved to be a major year for Canfield. Not only did he release the highly successful, We’re Young, Alright, the songwriter has also opened up for superstar, Riley Green back in March. Additionally, he recently signed with The Neal Agency, a Nashville-based entertainment agency that notably works with Morgan Wallen, Riley Green, HARDY, Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman.
Canfield, much like one of his inspirations, Zach Bryan, captures a certain sense of youthful angst and hope throughout his songs. His writing is particularly impressive with all 12 songs being written independently. In a landscape where many of the Top 40 country songs are written by upwards of five writers, Canfield’s ability to pen these tracks by himself is even more impressive. He seamlessly balances topics of young love, heartbreak, gratitude and youthful dreaming all within the first 12 songs of his career.
Currently, Canfield is gearing up to perform at this year’s CMA Fest on the Hard Rock Stage on June 11.
Listen to The Idea of Me, Romeo & Juliet and The Drive here: