Billboard’s Country Up-And-Comer Mack Geiger Went From Student Paramedic to Hot 100 Hitmaker in Eight Months: ‘It’s Been a Trip’

When Australia-based country artist Mack Geiger was in preschool, he was already demonstrating his passion for country music.

During a preschool dress-up day, Geiger went as one of his favorite singers: Country Music Hall of Famer Alan Jackson.

“We were raised on that sort of ‘90s country stuff,” Geiger tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Australia.

“My dad had a stack of CDs that he’d be playing.

I wanted to dress up like Alan, and my mum went and bought a yellow, blonde mullet that we glued to the back of the back of my hat.

I had a blonde mustache and I took my guitar to school, proud as punch.” Geiger grew up on his family’s cattle ranch in Queensland, Australia, about seven hours away from the nearest large city of Brisbane.

He later began working on a larger cattle ranch, where also doing gigs at local bars, often playing six-hour cover sets.

These days, Geiger is fast cementing his own status as a superb neo-traditionalist in the genre, thanks to his breakthrough song “String By,” which is at No.

48 on Billboard ’s Country Airplay chart, and also brought Geiger his Billboard Hot 100 debut.

He officially released “String By” in October 2025, and signed with RECORDS Nashville/ Columbia Records earlier this year.

“It’s pretty wild to think about when you write a song at the kitchen table and you don’t really realize what it is when you do it, but then a lot of people resonate with it,” he says.

“I didn’t really have a personal story in mind when I wrote it — I just wanted to write, so I sat down and started playing bit of a chord progression and wrote about someone who’s not walking away, I guess because it’s easier to stay in something toxic than to walk away sometimes.” He’s followed with songs like “Pouring” and the Australian bush-inspired “Campdraft Queen.” Over the past year, he’s played high-profile events and fests, including making his Grand Ole Opry debut, playing Australia’s CMC Rocks and making his debut at Nashville’s CMA Fest.

He also recently completed his first U.S. headline tour, with his New Dirt, Same Boots Tour playing venues including Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, and Houston’s Armadillo Palace.

He’s also working on new music with producer Keith Stegall, known for his work with Jackson.