On the Verge: Jamie Lawson's unexpected hit

Corrections & Clarifications:A previous version of this story misstated the release date of Lawson's album. It also neglected to include his tour dates with One Direction in the U.K. 

This week in On the Verge, Paste BN's spotlight on breakthrough artists, Brian Mansfield talks to British singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson.

Five-year plan. Though most people are only just starting to hear Jamie Lawson's name, he's been playing out for 20 years. "I've made a living out of it — as in, I've been able to pay my rent — most of that time," says the singer of Wasn't Expecting That, a heart-tugging ballad that's No. 22 on Paste BN's Hot AC airplay chart. The British singer-songwriter released the song in 2011  and saw it climb the charts in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand before it hit American radio several weeks ago.

Item 2. Wasn't Expecting That follows a relationship from its first heart-fluttering smile to an ending that almost always elicits tears. "I consider it a happy song," Lawson says, "because these people get a whole life together where each stage of their love takes them by surprise. I think that's quite beautiful. It just has this sad ending."

Item 3. In 2011, a popular Irish radio personality pulled a performance of Lawson's song off YouTube, turning it into a hit in that country. However, Lawson's follow-up singles there didn't connect the same way. "At the time, we thought, 'This is it. We're on our way,'" he says. "But it just didn't escape. It stuck in Ireland."

Second life. One person outside Ireland who was paying attention was Ed Sheeran, who had toured the same British singer-songwriter circuit as Lawson. Sheeran loved Wasn't Expecting That so much he signed Lawson to his Gingerbread Man Records, had him re-record it and released it as a single in Australia, where it became a hit just as Lawson started touring with him this year. "That was his plan from the very start: 'Australia's going to get this; we're going to break it out of Australia. If we can have a hit in Australia, we can take it everywhere,'" Lawson says. Lawson also opened for Sheeran's summer North American tour. In October, Lawson will play on 22 One Direction dates in the U.K. and Ireland. After a short headlining tour in Europe, he'll return to the U.S. with Vance Joy in early 2016.

The album that got away. Self-titled as it is, Jamie Lawson, out Oct. 16, might seem like Lawson's debut album, but he's had three previous ones — four, if you count the one he accidentally erased. "I had it on a hard drive which was formatted for a Mac, and I put it into a PC," he says. "I didn't understand the difference. No back-up. It was gone. I had to do the whole thing again."

Caravan of dreams. Ask Lawson about other artists he admires, and he begins proclaiming the praises of Ron Sexsmith, Mark Eitzel and Van Morrison. In fact, he says, Morrison's 1970 album Moondance served as a musical guidepost for Jamie Lawson. "The song Caravan, for instance, was my reference point," he says. "I said, 'I'm aiming for that.' Now, I missed it by a mile, no doubt about that, but the aim was there."