Austin Livingood

Every story has a beginning, a conflict, and a resolution; but more importantly every person has a story. The interesting thing is a person cant have a story without an experience or a past and a persons story cant resolve without wrestling with a conflict. Everyone starts somewhere, and its from a humble beginning that singer/songwriter, Austin Livingood hopes to discover by taking head on the pursuits of life and finding that resolution by creating songs through stories, both personal and universal.

At the age of just twelve, Livingood picked up a guitar out of curiosity one day having his father show him four basic chords, where he would then teach himself well enough to begin to define his own skills. Its funny, he states, I remember coming home from middle school, literally, every day and just going straight to the dial-up internet looking up some of my favorite bands and teaching myself their songs. If my mom ever asks, just tell her I was doing homework, he laughs. Im sure his parents dont mind. After all, he has been playing in bands since he was fifteen years old.

Technically, it started with a really lame eighth grade dance where a friend and I butchered a couple Green Day songs, and one Switchfoot tune. That night was completely humbling to say the least. My freshman year of high school I began writing my own music, and its taken me up until now to truly feel like I have something worth giving by putting my own name on it. Its like I had been walking on ice to get to a green mountain but, for me, that ice I was walking on was for myself to get across my own hesitancy, and once I get to that mountain, my hopes are that people will begin walking up that with me, not along side of me. I want to do this not for myself, fame, or fans, but really for the love of music, community, and relationships.

Its highly doubtful that this journey will be alone for Livingood, for in no time people will be following his infectiously honest lyricism to his depth defying rock and roll. Being compared to songwriter Jon Mclaughlin with a hint of indie phenoms Delta Spirit, he taps into long time inspirations from legacy artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, and Radiohead to modern successes like The National, City & Colour, and Justin Vernon. Although the road is just forming for the solo artist, he plans on not holding back making every song in both performance and craft a memorable experience. Livingood will release his debut EP in 2013, following with two more to create an entire story.

When asked about his hope for the music, he responded, Ya know, as a kid, I remember being tucked in to go to sleep by my mom. Before I could even think about closing my eyes, a story had to be told. Im almost positive that we had gone through hundreds of books, not counting the times they were reread; And though I didnt know it then, what I do know now is that I too have stories to tell, and theyre still being written everyday. My hope is that somehow they do more than entertain the mind and ears, but they somehow impact the heart and spirit of every person.

The comfort in Austin Livingoods story

...its only just beginning.