AUSTIN SNELL

                                                                "Get There First"

                                                                River House Artists

With a background that includes serving in the United States Air Force and having to navigate his own personal setbacks, Austin Snell immediately made an impact on the Nashville music scene when he transparently channeled his life into song on his debut single “Excuse the Mess.”

His self-proclaimed “grunge country” sound was prevalent through the moodiness that he embedded into his debut, and while his brand-new release “Get There First” certainly sees him staying firmly planted in his influences of 90’s alternative rock and country, it also amps everything up to a harder hitting level that strikes on all cylinders.

Cranking up the guitar licks and fusing them with a country theme allows Snell’s naturally raspy vocals to add an additional flare as he stretches his voice across the rock edge, while expertly tugging you back over to his country influence through the lyrics and precise phrasing to elevate the depth of the song.

Leaning into darker tones through the intro, the production balance sets the ambience as Snell takes us through very cleverly written lyrics surrounding the familiar theme of drinking over a dead relationship, while battling your demons within the vice as you try to move on from it.

Admitting through the first verse that since they split there aren’t too many backroads that he hasn’t driven drunk on at 2AM, he unravels his heartbroken spiral when he reveals that he can’t outrun the trail of hell that’s chasing him as he continues to curse her name, who is he becoming, and what they once had.

Leaning deeper into the vices that he’s already tried, Snell also tells in the second verse that pills are on the counter and that if his whiskey glass could hold more liquor, then he’d probably be able to drown her memory by now.

However, while there’s a lot of heart wrenching, gut punches in these lyrics, the chorus sees Snell interestingly turning somewhat more optimistic, clearly understanding what’s on the other side of this heartbreak once he gets over the depressing hump, as he shows on lines such as “I can see the light at the end of the bottle.”

In comparison to what is being released to mainstream country radio right now, Austin Snell walks uniquely left of the mainstream dial with a much edgier style, that while it does fit into certain characteristics of the country rock branding, his unapologetic addition of grungier elements helps create a distinct signature that makes him stand out from the pack.

With his fan base having already showed out with tremendous support of “Excuse the Mess”- gifting the song with 1 million streams in one week - I suspect that they will do the same as Austin delivers this deep, powerful, rock kissed country ode to the struggle of the broken hearted.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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