Before breaking through to North American audiences with his appearance on American Idol in 2022, the Canadian singer worked long hours on a British Columbia pipeline, posting Tyler Childers covers to Reddit in his spare time. Whitcomb had never sung in public before his televised audition, but his rendition of Waylon Jennings’ “Rock, Salt and Nails” impressed judge Katy Perry, earning him a deal with Atlantic Records and a substantial TikTok following though he didn’t make the cut. Fall 2024 was big for the 21-year-old singer: he released his soulful debut EP, Quitter—inspired in part by past struggles with addiction—and embarked on his first headlining tour.