On The Row: Austin Snell Blends Influences Together For Personal Storytelling

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Austin Snell.

River House Artists/Warner Music Nashville artist Austin Snell grew up immersed in a diverse range of musical influences, from Nickelback to Alan Jackson. Now, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter draws on his rich musical foundation to craft a raw, distinctive sound, amassing over 290 million global steams. He recently stopped by the MusicRow offices to share his story, along with some tunes from his debut album Still Bleeding, released earlier this year.

Snell grew up in Dublin, Georgia and enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from high school. It was while he was in the military that he picked up a guitar for the first time. As he was teaching himself to play, Snell would teach himself different cover songs and send them to his mom, making her the only person to ever hear him sing at the time, but she wanted more people to listen.

Pictured (L-R): MusicRow’s Liza Anderson, Madison Hahnen and Sherod Robertson; Austin Snell; MusicRow’s LB Cantrell and John Nix Arledge.

“She would always try to talk me into posting them online, [and eventually] I did. I started doing that as a hobby,” he shared. Snell soon started writing his own tunes while stationed in California. He posted the original songs onto TikTok, gaining an immediate following.

After getting out of the Air Force in 2020, he moved back to his hometown. After connecting with River House Artists’ Zebb Luster, Snell was inspired to come to Nashville in 2022, and the whirlwind began. He made his mark on Music City soon after with “Excuse the Mess,” leading to his record deal.

As far as the live show circuit, Snell didn’t play any live events until he was here in town.

“I didn’t grow up playing in the bars or acoustic gigs. Before I moved to Nashville, I played one 20-minute thing because one of my friends was playing at the bar down the street in our town. I had to learn how to play shows the last couple of years.”

Snell has honed his live performances, fueled by his deep passion for songwriting.

MusicRow’s Sherod Robertson and Austin Snell.

“I’ve just always loved writing music. That’s how I grew into music. I love telling stories and I didn’t ever plan on really doing the artist thing. I never saw myself mentally being able to get on stage in front of people and play songs. At first I hated it,” he admitted. “And now it’s my favorite thing in the world.”

Snell’s musical inspirations draw from a bevy of artists, including Jason Aldean, Three Doors Down, Ed Sheeran and more. He recalls being able to listen to all different genres of music on his iPod growing up, and now pays homage to that in his shows with an “iPod shuffle” segment of his set where he plays a string of hit songs including Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” Three Doors Down’s “When I’m Gone,” Mario’s “Let Me Love You” and Drake’s “Trophies.”

For the MusicRow staff, Snell played “Wildfire,” which is the only song on his Still Bleeding album he did not write himself. The tune, written by Clayton Mullen, Cody Lohden and Jared Conrad, spoke to Snell upon first listen, and he knew he had to cut it.

He also played “Wasting Mine,” which he wrote by himself, as well as “Some Things Just Stick,” a homage to his country roots.

To end the afternoon, Snell treated the MusicRow team to “Pray All The Way Home,” which was the singer’s first song to go to country radio. The same day it went to radio was two years to the day that Snell moved to Nashville, creating a full circle moment.

Madison Hahnen
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