Being around music from a young age it was prominent that Kaleb Austin would become a musician and his background has proved just that. With his song, “Sound of the South” going number one on the country charts and his most recent single, “Sun Goes Down” going number one overnight on the overall music chart. Kaleb Austin his definitely a country artist at heart and he is only getting bigger.
Courtesy of Kaleb Austin
We just knew we had to set up a time to talk with Kaleb to see just what he has planned for the future.
BC: Already getting two number one songs on the country chart and the overall music chart is a huge achievement that we have to know how you start in music?
Austin: “My family has always been big into music my mom would sing karaoke all the time and compete in singing competitions. My mom was the one who really got me into music. but as I grew up - I picked up a guitar and she had me take some lessons but I played piano, drums but I really just loved the guitar. I stuck with that and started writing my first songs when I was fourteen and it evolved from there. I started playing every show that I could and I moved to Nashville for a little and learned how to write a little better and then I came back to Utah and wrote, “Sound of The South”. “
BC: Was it always the genre of country music for you?
Austin: “Yeah, it was pretty much always country for me. I listen to all kinds of different stuff; there’s great music in every genre that you can get inspiration from me. For me, as a performer it’s always been country.”
BC: Are there songs/artists that you grew up with that are still staple inspirations in your life today?
Austin: “Big time! I’d say Garth Brooks is a big influence and has always bee. I was influenced by Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Clay Walker - there’s a lot of people I’ve been influenced by. More recently in my style of music is Eric Church, Jason Aldean but with a little more of a nineties flair.”
BC: Your debut song, “Sound of the South” was the third most downloaded song in all of country music, what was going through your head when this was happening?
Austin: “It was surreal. I had given up music for awhile due to some personal reasons I had to deal with - i put music on the back burner and get my stuff in order so I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to do music again. My wife started posting my music on Instagram and on TikTok and that’s when things started to pick up and give me a second chance. When all that happened - It was almost unbelievable. It was a very emotional time. I was a bawling mess. Super grateful and excited.” Austin tell us, “All I knew was how to keep the ball rolling. I wanted to keep putting out music for anyone who wanted to listen.”
BC: Your wife posting the video on TikTok went viral, was TikTok something that you guys have done before or was it just taking a chance?
Austin: “I’ve posted TikToks on my own for a little while with not a whole lot of success and my wife had her own page. Neither one of us seeing that much success. She ran up to me one day, trying something different and said, “sing this song,” and I did and it that took off from there. She figuered out how to capture those moments. All I do is what I do everyday. I sing a lot, I hang out with my kids and she captures little moments. It’s a very fun thing. It comes very naturally to us. It’s not made up. It allows her to be part of the music with me. She’s the biggest reason the music is succeeding because she has done such an awesome job on social media.”
Courtesy of Kaleb Austin || Via Instagram
BC: “What can you tell us about your song, “Sun Goes Down”?
Austin: “It was during a time where things were super crazy so I wanted to write a song to just be able to talk about hanging out with each other. We’d always go out with groups of friends but I wanted to write a song about having fun with her. Just focusing on each other again.”
BC: What is the biggest thing that you want fans to take away from your music?
Austin: “Hopefully they can take away happiness and positivity. I really want my music to be an inspiration to people to have fun and forget about whatever struggles they might be going through.”