Today we’d like to introduce you to Oliver Pigott.
Hi Oliver, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in Toronto, but I grew up in Portugal. My dad, Jacques, was a philosophy professor and hobby musician, and when he passed away I was nine years old. My mom moved us to Portugal, and I didn’t have much left of him — a few photos, his harmonicas, and his vinyl blues collection. I remember putting on Muddy Waters’ Fathers and Sons and obsessing over every harmonica lick on “Forty Days and Forty Nights.” I taught myself to play it note for note.
When we moved back to Canada, I went to an arts high school — very Fame, very dramatic, I loved every second of it. I majored in Music Theatre, started my first band, Laughing Sam’s Dice, and we were playing the El Mocambo while I was still a teenager. Those early shows taught me a lot about performing, about holding an audience, about what it feels like when the music actually connects with people.
At 21, I signed a development deal with BMG Music Publishing. I spent the next few years writing and gigging across the US and Canada, opening for artists like Joe Bonamassa and Colin Hay, bouncing between Toronto and Los Angeles. Then I moved to London in my mid-twenties and spent time playing stages across Britain and Europe. I even briefly fronted a blues-rock band — we recorded a demo with producer Nick Tauber, who’d worked with Thin Lizzy and UFO, at Abbey Road Studios.
Returning to Toronto, I auditioned for Canadian Idol alongside my brother Sebastian — we both made the finals, which was wild. That led to us recording and performing internationally as The Pigott Brothers. We had a couple of songs, “Alien Like You” and “Hard to Go,” featured in the award-winning series Being Erica, which introduced our music to a new audience.
Around that time I got to play the lead role in a film called Lost Angels. The soundtrack ended up winning Best Feature Film Soundtrack and Best Original Score at festivals across the country.
One of my most memorable moments was when I played a CBC benefit gala with Gordon Lightfoot. Gordon Lightfoot is a legend — one of Canada’s best songwriters — and the fact that the event was named after one of my songs, “Walk You to the Water,” made it feel magical. Standing on that stage, I kept thinking about my dad and those old vinyl records, and how music connects everything across time. It’s a night I’ll carry with me the rest of my life.
Another fun experience was singing lead vocals on “Elevator” for the TV series The Next Step — that song has over 3 million views on YouTube now, and has become an uplifting anthem for the youth who watch the dance series. For a couple of years I was the lead vocalist of a Toronto rock band called The Celebration Army, honing my frontman skills in the process. We played sold-out shows at The Horseshoe Tavern and toured Ontario opening for acts like The Trews and David Wilcox.
Nashville feels like where I was always supposed to end up. I’m writing and recording every day, surrounded by musicians and producers who operate at an incredibly high level — Your game is raised just being in the room with them. I’ve gotten to record with Grammy Award-winning artists and producers. The collaboration here is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. Country, soul, gospel, Americana — everyone’s drawing from something different and it all bleeds together in a beautiful way. I’m genuinely having the most fun I’ve ever had making music.
I recently released my debut US album Hallelujah Honey! It was recorded at Dark Horse in Franklin, TN. It’s not just a collection of songs, it’s the sum of everything it took to get here.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The strange thing is, a lot of the early breaks came pretty fast. Record deals, TV exposure, sharing stages with artists I’d grown up listening to — it was all happening. But I wasn’t ready for it. How to handle success. How to navigate an industry full of people who don’t always have your best interests at heart. I had the talent and hunger, but emotionally I wasn’t ready, so I learned the hard way. There were times that were dark — seasons of questioning being in the entertainment industry altogether. In retrospect, the struggles I experienced were the education I needed.
That’s ultimately what brought me to Nashville. It felt like finally arriving somewhere as the person I was meant to become. Older, clearer, more grateful — finally ready.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a storyteller, whether I’m writing original music or reimagining a song that’s been around for years. The story always comes first.
What I’m probably best known for is what I do with a cover song. I’ll take something universally familiar and find the version nobody’s heard yet. Change the tempo, feel, emotion — until it doesn’t sound like a cover anymore, but like a fresh confession. People hear a song they’ve known their whole lives and suddenly they’re experiencing it for the first time. That’s what gets me excited.
But where I feel most like myself right now is in the original music I’ve been making here in Nashville. My single “Hallelujah Honey!” was the beginning of a new direction— it’s jubilant, the sound of someone who’s been through it and come out the other side with something to celebrate. And it’s been incredible to see it connect with people — the music video recently earned a nomination for Best Actor at the Josie Independent Music Awards, to be held this September at the Grand Ole Opry. Recognition at that level in Nashville means a lot.
What sets me apart? I’ve lived enough life to mean every word I sing. I’m not performing emotion — I’m reliving it. And I’ve got the range to take an audience somewhere unexpected.
What makes me most proud? That I’m still making music that matters to me. And that my two boys get to grow up watching their dad fulfill his destiny. I’ll never take that for granted.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
People hear the music, they see the stage presence, they know the story — and I think they assume I’m this extroverted around the clock. I’m actually quite introverted. People find that hard to believe, but when I’m not performing I’m usually alone with a book, a podcast, or just sitting quietly in my yard watching the trees. I’ve fallen in love with the Tennessee countryside — there’s something about nature that resets everything.
But my wife and sons are the reason I get up every morning and give it everything I’ve got. I actually have a song called “Freedom To Me” and that’s exactly what their love feels like — freedom. The freedom to be my fully expressed self. That’s the greatest gift I’ve ever received.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oliverpigott.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliverpigottmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliverpigott
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@oliverpigottmusic
- Other: https://oliverpigott.bandcamp.com
