Canada to Australia to Nashville — and Why “Rockin’ Christmas” Might Be His Most Personal Release Yet
By Michael “Doc” Studard
When you hear Robert Ross, you hear grit, gravel, heart, and a world of miles behind the microphone. But what you might not know is just how many actual miles — and continents — it took for Ross to land in Nashville and become one of country music’s most compelling new voices.
Ross didn’t just drift into Music City. He arrived as the 2025 Red Carpet Awards Europe – Male Artist of the Year, the 2024 Independent Music Network Awards – New Discovery Artist of the Year, and a man who has lived enough for three lifetimes — soldier, laborer, business owner, traveler, and storyteller.
But before the accolades, before the stages, there was a small fishing town, a snow-covered runway, and a dream that refused to die.
From Minus 15 to 98 Degrees: The Day Everything Changed
Ross grew up in rural New Brunswick — a town so small he jokes it had “95 people on a good day.” Life there wasn’t easy. Work was limited, booze and drugs were common escapes, and the options for a young kid with ambition were slim.
“I knew from a very young age I had to leave,” he told me. “I wouldn’t trade my childhood, but I didn’t want to be a fisherman, didn’t want to work in the woods, and I definitely didn’t want the pulp mill.”
So he did what many kids from small towns do when they want out: he joined the military. It took him around the world, then back home, then back into service again. But the moment that would alter the course of his entire life came years later — on a frigid day in Edmonton, Alberta.
Ross boarded a plane in the middle of a blizzard. “It was blowing a gale, minus 10 to minus 15. We didn’t even know if we were getting off the ground.” Hours later, the doors opened in Australia.
“It was 98 degrees and sunny. I threw on shorts and running shoes, went for a six-mile run, and said, ‘I am home.’”
He wouldn’t see snow again for 15 years.
A Life Too Big for One Career
The funny thing about Ross’s story is that music was always there — but life kept getting in the way.
“Life has always gotten in the way of my music,” Ross said. “The money’s not rolling in all the time, so you do whatever jobs you have to.”
And did he ever.
Ross was:
- A soldier (twice)
- A truck driver
- A heavy-equipment operator
- A renovation business owner
- A dental assistant
- An oil and gas worker
- A massage therapist with a decade-long successful practice
It reads like a list of characters from a novel. But each job, each city, each setback brought him closer to where he’s supposed to be.
Music never left. It just waited patiently.
Going All-In… and Then the World Shut Down
Just before the pandemic, Ross finally did what friends had been urging him to do for years — he committed to music full time.
Nine months later: COVID.
“I always tell people: life happens while you’re busy making other plans,” he laughed.
But Ross was living in Cairns, Australia, a place that became one of the most unique COVID bubbles on earth. Queensland sealed itself off from the world — then from the rest of Australia — and Cairns became a bubble within a bubble.
“In that whole period, Cairns had about 50 cases total. No deaths. Life went on as normal for two and a half years.”
Bars stayed open, people hugged, shook hands, danced, and Ross kept performing. The world shut down, but his momentum didn’t.
When the borders finally reopened, COVID cases spiked to thousands within a week — proof of how isolated they’d been.
By then, Ross knew:
It was time for Nashville.
The Long Road to Music City
Getting to the capital of country music wasn’t as simple as booking a flight.
Ross, a dual citizen of Canada and Australia, had to earn an O-1 “Extraordinary Talent” Artist Visa — a process that required 137 pages of proof, awards, press, interviews, and verification that he was not only established, but would contribute to the American arts landscape.
“It’s flattering to hear ‘extraordinary talent,’” he joked, “but they don’t exactly just hand it to you.”
It took time. Money. Patience. Documentation. More documentation.
But finally, the visa was approved.
In October of 2023, Ross arrived in Nashville — just in time for a brutal winter storm that dropped eight inches of snow and froze the city solid.
“Cousin told me, ‘Winters aren’t bad. You might get a skiff of snow.’ That snow stayed for ten days,” he laughed. “Welcome to Tennessee.”
Despite the shock, he knew he was home.
Roots, Revival, and Real Country Music
Ross is passionate when he talks about the state of country music.
“Since the early 2000s, country took a sharp turn away from its roots,” he said. “Thank God it’s coming back now. You’ve got artists like Cody Johnson bringing real country back.”
His influences were the classics: Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Charley Pride, and Canadian icon Stompin’ Tom Connors.
“I cut my teeth on those songs. That’s the music that raised me.”
On AI, Fear, and the Future
When the conversation shifted to AI, Ross didn’t shy away from honesty.
“It scares me,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of good that can come from it and a lot of bad.”
His wife recently completed a major AI program with Tony Robbins, pushing them to understand the technology instead of fear it.
“Don’t be afraid of it — embrace it,” Ross said. “But I still don’t like the bad it can do.”
He’s not alone. Artists everywhere are navigating this new frontier.
“Rockin’ Christmas” — A Holiday Track with Heart
Ross’s newest single, “Rockin’ Christmas,” is more than just a seasonal release — it’s a celebration of the journey that brought him here.
Santa with swagger, guitars with bite, and a voice shaped by snowstorms, desert heat, diesel smoke, and honky-tonks half a world apart.
After everything he’s lived — from tiny-town New Brunswick to the outback of Australia to the neon glow of Lower Broadway — Ross delivers Christmas spirit with world-traveled soul.
It’s festive. It’s fun. It’s Ross to the core.
The Final Word
Robert Ross is not your average artist. He’s lived three different lives before most of us finish one. He’s driven trucks, fought for his country, built houses, healed bodies, and now he heals hearts with country music.
But more than that — he’s proof that it’s never too late to chase the dream that’s been tugging at your soul since childhood.
“Music has always been in my life,” he told me. “Always. Nothing is getting in the way now.”
Make sure to follow Robert on his socials:
https://www.instagram.com/robertrossmusic
https://www.facebook.com/robertrossmusic
https://www.robertrossmusic.com/
Mornings With Doc 
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