“There’s Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Mayer, Jack White, The Dave Matthews Band…”
The junior majoring in journalism has just released his first EP, “Dancing in the Sky,” produced by Sonic Sorbet Records. While Austin said his roots are in blues, his EP frames his layered musical voice as self-described pop-rock. Despite the complexity of Austin’s sound, he tries to keep his sound simple and timeless.
“Simplicity is what sounds good, what lasts. If you listen to Sinatra or Jack White now, you hear that, and it’s timeless,” Austin said.
While this is his first professional album, Austin has been playing guitar for about seven years. As a child, he was fascinated with sound and often listened to his two brothers play guitar before deciding to try out the instrument for himself.
Since his first encounter with an acoustic guitar, Austin’s collection has expanded into four guitars that he plays regularly, each with a name like White Ape, Taylor and Phoenix.
“I treat them all with love and respect, just like I would a girl,” he said.
Austin’s favorite guitar, Storm, which he refers to as his “baby,” was a gift from one of his producers. The guitar has the word “believe” engraved on one of its frets, which Austin said encompasses everything he stands for as a musician. Along with Austin’s guitar collection, his musical interests have grown from a hobby into a serious career pursuit, something that heavily influenced Austin’s choice to transfer to the University from Arkansas. The University’s proximity to Nashville was a big draw for Austin, who travels to the nearby city of Franklin nearly every weekend to record in a studio with his agent Chuck Rhodes.
Rhodes, who got his start in the industry playing keyboards for artists such as Cher in the ‘70s, runs a management company in Nashville called On the Rhodes Entertainment.
Rhodes said he initially became acquainted with Austin when Austin’s dad, who went to college with Rhodes, called him saying he had a kid who could write songs and sing.
“You can understand I get at least 100 calls like this a year from friends, acquaintances and people I don’t know,” Rhodes said. “99.9 percent of them are not really very good.”
Rhodes said this time was different.
“I got the [tracks] and was blown away first and foremost with Michael’s voice,” said Rhodes. “I did the classic, ‘That voice is coming out of a 19-year-old?’”
While Austin found himself fitting into the studio setting well, he still had responsibility to his classes. Despite his success in juggling both, Austin said his commitment to school and his music has become a point of contention in his life.
“It’s stressful, but I love this, and it’s what I want as a full-time career,” said Austin. “It’s like Kurt Cobain said, ‘Something’s in the way,’ and for me, that’s school.”
Regardless of any future success, Austin said one thing will remain steady throughout his life: his love for music.
“Music is a release for me, I can’t think of anything else.”
Austin’s new EP “Dancing in the Sky” is available for purchase on iTunes and is also available for free listening on Spotify.
