In the last decade, country music has become a melting pot of all genres as artists have infused their music with pop, rock, hip-hop/rap and more. Artists like Sam Hunt, Florida Georgia Line and Dan + Shay, amongst others, took a major stride blending genres within their music. It's absolutely electric when I know an artist is creating their own lane by using their creativity to intertwine their own experience with musical influences from their past and present. Doing so without becoming a copy-and-paste isn't as easy as it may seem. AUSTIN G is a prime example of an artist who's reinventing country music and keeping his sound fresh and the genre on its toes. After finding success in the modern sounding duo SixForty, Austin is starting a new chapter as a solo artist and is off to an incredible start. Releasing his debut single "Way Too Much" on December 1st, 2023. Rattling off singles, AUSTIN G has stayed consistent throughout 2024, and is gearing up for a 2025 filled with buzz and big opportunities. "Leave Like That" has racked up over 130,000 plays on Spotify alone. His next single "Lights On" comes out October 18th.
I sat down with Austin G and talked about his single "Leave Like That,” how a green moment with a big-time Nashville songwriter led to a light bulb moment and how he found his authentic sound blending the likes of Rascal Flatts, Blink-182 and Florida Georgia Line. Take a look into the life and music of Austin and how the Kentucky native navigates life in Nashville.
Get To Know Austin
"I'm from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. I was the choir/theater kid growing up, was always on a stage, always singing. I was also in the church choir and all that good stuff. I've always been a singer, but I didn't know you could make money writing songs until college. I always knew I wanted to be on a stage at some point. I just didn't know how and when it was going to happen.
I went to Murray State University back in 2013 and up until that point I had only written a few songs, nothing crazy. It was my sophomore year in college and there was a philanthropy event put on by Alpha Omicron Pi and it's called "Mr. MSU" - it's kind of like a male beauty pageant and by looking at me I didn't win. There's a talent portion of the show and I met Brooks Hoffman backstage who was doing it too. We were just like "you want to write songs together?" and we both agreed. I spent that whole next summer writing songs with him going into our junior year of college and started doing the open mic nights around town. From there we slowly built a following and moved to Nashville after graduation. I didn't move directly after getting out of college just because I couldn't find a job down in Nashville. So I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. In October of 2017 I made the move to Nashville and put out a single in 2018 called "Plane Crazy" with SixForty1 my duo with Brooks, put a $100 ad out, and my manager to this day just so happened to be scrolling and he asked if we were playing shows anywhere. We actually had a show in Louisville so he drove up that next Thursday and saw us and the rest was history.
I've been on the road with Brantley Gilbert, Michael Ray, Walker Hayes, Eli Young Band and acts like that touring all over. From 2023 until now I've been working on a project and slowly pushing out singles. I have one coming out in a few weeks and then another one coming out in November, and then the whole project in January of 2025... super exciting stuff."
An Absolute Masterpiece Blending Genres... A Fresh New Sound
With the melodies and runs of Gary Levox and Rascal Flatts, the banging guitar tones and lyrical content of blink-182 and Tyler Hubbard's cadence and country music storytelling, AUSTIN G brings his own kind of sound to country music he calls "Camino Country.” Without a shadow of a doubt, "Leave Like That" is one of my favorite songs of the year and is FOR SURE one of the catchiest songs I've heard in a long time. A masterclass in authenticity while tipping your cap to your influences without going overboard. This track is the perfect upbeat heartbreak song that gets your blood flowing jamming out, with the lyrics still pulling on your heartstrings. It’s catchy, relatable, and is a look at what to expect with AUSTIN G as he bolts onto the Nashville scene as a solo artist. There are so many talented rising artists in Music City that I'm excited about, but AUSTIN G is for sure at the top of that list. Big moves incoming!
Inspiration Behind "Leave Like That"
Written By: Gary Garris, Austin Gee, Brooks Hoffman, Mason Thornley
Produced By: Matt Geroux
"I wrote "Leave Like That" in 2021. With Brooks, Mason Thornley, and Gary Garris. Brooks and I walked in and at that time, we wanted an upbeat breakup song - you just can't get enough of them. It was kind of like the vibe of "When It Rains It Pours" by Luke Combs. It’s a sad song, but it makes you move a little bit. I just love the songs that feel good live, I want my shows to be rocking and engaging and I think this song checks all the boxes. We didn't have a title or anything. Gary was the producer in the room and he had a track built up. It’s the same guitar parts you hear on the record. We just started freestyling melodies and then Mason out of nowhere goes "How you gonna look so fine in them Levi's and just LEAVE LIKE THAT," and that caught our attention. And we were just like "Yeah we are gonna write that.” We just started to work backwards, which is not a normal way to write a song. Most of the time, you have an idea, you go in and you might have a melody, and you work from there. That day we were just freestyling and it felt good to break away from that mold and that's why I think this song is so unique, because there wasn't a plan and we just went with what we were feeling."
Q & A with Austin G
Q: What was that "light bulb" moment that made you want to pursue a career in music?
A: "I was a freshman in college going into my sophomore year. This was before the SixForty1 duo. There's a big time songwriter from my town, his name is Brice Long. He's famous in my hometown and he puts on a Christmas benefit writers' round where he brings his friends out to play. This particular year I got to open up for him. I had written one song at this point, and I got there and played it. Then I watched him get on up there with Tony Arata who wrote "The Dance" by Garth Brooks, Dylan Altman, and David Lee... all Hall of Fame songwriters and I was like "Holy shit. You can make money doing this?" I realized you could touch peoples’ lives by songs you wrote. When they got done I talked to Brice in this meet and greet thing and I was so "green,” I was like "Hey man, I would love to come sit in on a write sometime in Nashville.” And he responded with "Ah, that's not really how it works, but just keep writing.” Him telling me that really made that light bulb go off in my head, that if I just keep doing this and writing I'll be able to put on a show like this.
It's a funny full circle moment. My buddy Ben who wrote "Runnin' My Mouth" with me that comes out in January, wrote with Brice recently and he's one of my biggest hype guys and he told Brice "you know Austin G? He's from your hometown!" and Brice was like "Oh yeah I know Austin, I remember him and his family.” Ben told him I was putting out some great stuff and he played Brice some of my stuff and Brice was like "Nooooo shit. He actually did it.” It was a cool moment for me.
The artist light bulb moment was in my senior year and I got to see our name on a marquee sign for the first time and it said "SixForty1 is playing," and I felt like I was really doing it. We started to pack out college bars and that's when I knew there was something there. Once you get a taste of that feeling, you can't have anything else. It’s the highest of high and better than any drug, and I try to keep that feeling."
Q: What were your initial experiences when you moved to Nashville? What were some highs and lows?
A: "Moving to Nashville, the hardest part for me was just picking a date and moving. You can talk about it as much as you want to, but until you do it, that's when the big leagues start. When we got here, we just tried to network and meet as many people as we could and write. At the time I had a day job. I worked at Amazon as a safety guy from Sunday-Wednesday 6AM to 4:40PM. I would write everyday when I got off work. I moved to town with half of "Plane Crazy" finished. We put that song out and things started to pick up pretty quick. I didn't get to experience the lows quite yet, just because it happened so quick, which I'm fortunate for. Within a year of being in town I was playing with Brantley Gilbert on the road. That wasn't on my bingo card. The highs were coming very quickly at first, so we started taking label meetings. Having your face be known around town is what you move here for, but as soon as people start knowing who you are, it's just a weird feeling.
When COVID hit that's when the lows started. It felt like people started passing us by and other people started getting signed instead of us and we would just be like "What is going on? Why are we getting passed up?" I got into a dark spot during that time because then I started second guessing myself if I had to change something up or go a different direction. It's a tough feeling to feel like you're getting passed by when you are putting in the time and hours.
I'm starting to feel the highs again, and it's a new kind of high. I feel like I have more ownership, if it fails it's because of me, if it succeeds it's because of me. Now, I'm starting to get booking agencies looking at me again that used to pass us up. It's cool to see the progression of my career from being at the highs of highs, being on the road all the time and feeling like an artist. You don't feel like you're an artist when you're in town every day. Going a year without playing a show, I got in my head and I was like "Am I an artist? I don't know.” Now coming back to feeling like an artist and getting the attention from those who could change your life, it's cool to see. Feels good to see that perseverance paid off. I always say that the people who decide to move away or change directions after a while it's just because they didn't stick it out enough. It's just about chipping away at a piece of ice and one of these days that ice is going to break and it's your turn. Nashville is full of ups and downs."
Q: What are some of your biggest musical influences and how have they helped mold your sound as an artist?
A: "I'm a huge Rascal Flatts fan. Growing up I had every record of theirs and I wanted to sing like Gary. I trained my voice to sound like that as best as I could, and by no means am I as good as he is. The runs I do and the tone in my voice is similar to his, like Rascal Flatts early on. And then I loved blink-182 and A Day To Remember through my high school years and college years and I still listen to them to this day. I love how the guitar tones sound and how they can talk about whatever they want to talk about and sound cool. In college, what made me want to be an artist who can be a songwriter was Tyler Hubbard and Florida Georgia Line. I grew up listening to Rap as well. Lil Wayne was my favorite rapper back in the day. Hearing the way Florida Georgia Line would rap a little and how they changed the sound of country music was inspiring. To this day, if I ever got a write with Tyler Hubbard, I could die a happy man.
I try to incorporate all those things into my music. The melodies and vocal runs of Gary and Rascal Flatts, mixing it with the blink-182, rocking guitars instrumentally and lyrically and cadence wise Tyler Hubbard the way he does it. You can tell in "Leave Like That" it's Florida Georgia Line-ish. I incorporate all three of those genres into my own and try to create a new lane with my music."
Q: If you could go back 5-10 years, what's some advice you'd give to your younger self?
A: "I got three words that I think of constantly. I wish I would have kept this in the back of my head then, but "one more day.” If you feel like quitting, just one more day because you never know what can happen. It really struck me when I heard that for the first time. That's my mantra, "one more day" and "don't forget your why…” If you forget your why, that one more day can be very hard to remember. Those two things put together are a recipe for success. Just continue to chip away and good things will happen."
If you are just discovering AUSTIN G follow him on Apple Music, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok
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