Austin grew up in Greenville, S.C. listening to healthy doses of Motown, R&B, rock, and retro country from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. He also loved authors like Oscar Wilde, O Henry, Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas, and started writing poetry at nine years old. He knew he was going to be a writer of some sort, and at 16 when he picked up a guitar, he began pouring out his emotions into songs.