Growing up in Roswell, Georgia, Vincent Mason absorbed the music his mom was listening to: Maroon 5, Jack Johnson, early John Mayer…singer-songwriters whose supple confessionals were abetted by virtuosic playing and rock-solid writing.

When he got to college, Mason caught wind of Texas country artist Parker McCollum, who was “singing Texas country music with John Mayer-style songwriting.” It sparked something in his brain—he’d spent years of his life diving obsessively into Mayer’s catalogue, and now he was connecting with modern country music. Mason began to piece together a songwriting style that was informed by the intimacy of what he grew up listening to, the storytelling and darkness of outlaw country, and a penchant for hooks that make even the torture of lost love sound appealing. He dropped out of school without a concrete plan.

Mason’s songs found the ear of Jake Gear, a producer, publisher, and now A&R, who has worked with artists like Kelsea Ballerini, Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, and many more. For three years Gear and Mason, alongside a host of songwriters and producers like Brett Truitt and Chris LaCorte wrote, refined, and perfected the songs that would make up Mason’s debut, There I Go, a 14 track opus that finds Mason living in bars, looking for love, embracing the pain of romantic near-misses, plumbing the depths of the loneliness of the road in search of epiphany and comfort. It’s a mature album that doesn’t forego big hooks in favor of nuance, instead finding space for both.

Their hard work has been paying off: This year, Vincent Mason has played major festivals like Stagecoach, Calf Fry, and Rock the South, and toured in support of artists including Riley Green, Parker McCollum, Jordan Davis, Luke Bryan, and more. His hits, including “Hell is a Dancefloor” (150M cross-platform streams and RIAA Gold certified), “Wish You Well (21M cross-platform streams and counting), and “Damned If I Do” (27M cross-platform streams and counting), have set him up to be one of the fastest rising new artists in country. This fall, he’ll be taking There I Go on the road for a sold-out headlining tour.