Austin B.
BIO
Austin B. Sweeney is a Pacific-Northwest-born artist, currently living in his fifth-wheel camper, dubbed The Bandwagon, often found somewhere between the coastal forests of Oregon and the hot desert of Arizona.
Starting at a young age, singer-songwriter Austin B. Sweeney has been steadily blazing his own musical trail that winds through Country, Folk, Blues, Americana, and Soul music. Growing up on a family farm in Oregon, Sweeney found inspiration everywhere he looked. Whether it was long, hot days moving irrigation lines, or 16-hour nights picking berries, he found songs that needed to be written. He was a fourth generation farmer that found a restless need to wander.
He soon decided that he'd move to Nashville towards the end of his five-and-a-half-year college tenure. However, after a run of open mics, road trips, dive bars, late nights, strange mornings, and a fairly hefty amount of debt, he moved back to Oregon to continue his music career and work on the family farm for the next four years.
Those years were filled with depression, anxiety, and (a lot of) alcohol that changed Sweeney’s view on songwriting. He began digging into the more introspective and eclectic singer-songwriters of the mid-to-late 20th century. He also dug deeply into Eastern Philosophy, as well as the psychedelic writers of the 60s and 70s, in an attempt to find his way out of the pit he had found himself in, and realized that he could craft lyrics and melodies that truly came from a new place. A place that was painful to pull from, but ultimately cathartic. What emerged was a whole new artist with an entirely new vision, as well as a mission to find the many kindred spirits that would be found along the trail. He also found his mantra and ethos in those old books:
BE HERE NOW.
Not long after, he decided to pack up and move to Arizona to reignite his music career, as well as put some road miles in between himself and the gravitational pull of the farm. Not one to forget his roots however, the songs he writes are infused with the work ethic and passion that is developed through a life on the farm.
His sound combines the organic acoustic sounds of Mumford & Sons, Sturgill Simpson, and Van Morrison, with the electric west coast sounds that harken back to the Eagles, Pearl Jam, and Jackson Browne. His songwriting is self-referential and extremely personal, yet universal. It touches on themes of growth, freedom, anxiety, addiction, spirituality and the pure joy of an open highway.
He’s described his sound as: “Sturgill Simpson meets The Black Crowes at a party that Van Morrison threw for Eddie Vedder.”
He has shared the stage with Cody Johnson, Randy Rogers Band, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Neal McCoy, The Black Moods, J.D. Graham, Ben Danaher, Drew Cooper, The Cole Trains, The Runaway Grooms, and many others.
press
“Brilliant and insightful” - Canvas Rebel Magazine
“Allows the listener to connect with lyrics that truly shine through.” - EarToTheGround Music
“The real deal.” - Rock 102.1 KFMA with Beef Vegan
LiNKS
Website: https://austinbsweeney.com/
Insta: https://instagram.com/austinbsweeneymusic/
FB: https://facebook.com/austinbsweeney/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@austinbsweeneymusic/