October 10, 2011
I had such a blast listening to your beautiful music and feel so honored to have played with y'all at the Opry. I hope that we can get you back very soon. Getting to pick gospel music from good Christian people is one of the biggest joys of why I'm still playing music 56 years after I started. God bless all of you and I hope to see you again soon.
This past Saturday was the show I've been waiting to put on for the last 10 months at the Opry. For the last several weeks we were almost there, but your appearance pushed us over the top this time. You'll always be that milestone where we turned the corner onto the right road. My only regret is that I forgot all about getting one of your tee shirts in all the excitement after the show. When I try to explain the beauty and the three crosses to people, it's not as good as seeing it. I'll get one at one of your appearances somewhere.John Petty
July 30, 2011
Jacob & Co: I could not think of a more positive, upbeat beginning for our event than you guys. It means a lot to me to give our audience a wholesome, Branson style welcome with such a strong spiritual foundation, so I am very appreciative that we have the Jacob Austin Band to begin, what I hope will be a Navasota tradition. I do have one request... I listen to your CD all the time, and my favorite is Long Black Train...
I'm just sayin'... :) Russell Cushman
April 19, 2011
"Y'all did such a great job at both Copperas Cove and Burnet. I enjoy you more each time I hear you all.
Have been really enjoying the CD I got at Burnet. The only thing I would have liked more of is the harmony that Dave did at the Burnet Opry to the songs he chimed in with Jacob on. Their voices blend so well and Dave has a great way with the harmony. He and Jacob have a good thing going there. Haven't heard such good yodeling in a long, long time. Keep up the wonderful music, Jacob.
The autoharp fascinates me. For only a three-piece group, you have a much bigger sound. By far, the best part of the Burnet program." - Betty Poe
March 19, 2011
"Your performance on last Thursday night in Corpus was one of the best we have seen. Hope to see you again at the South Texas Opry." Rose
December 5, 2010
"The Austins always perform incredibly well at the Jacinto City Opry. I would like to personally thank you for a great show. Last night was no exception. You are easy and enjoyable to work with and we look forward to your return. Bill Barfield"
June 22, 2010
Y'all kicked butt last night in La Grange. I wish y'all could have done more songs. We were blessed to hear y'all. - Texas Cannoneer
The Fayette County Record June 15, 2010
Jacob Austin Headlines County Opry
The Fayette County Country Music Club will host their monthly Opry on Monday, June 21 at the KC Hall in La Grange.
The show starts at 7:30 p.m.. and the doors will open at 5:30 p.m.. Admission is only $5.. The Opry is hosting its first gospel show and they promise that the music will be good gospel music.
Headlining the guest list is Jacob Austin who is 21. This young man has been singing for more than half his life. Austin performs with his father David Austin, who was in a band back in the old days, and he plays the 12 and six-string rhythm guitars.
Austin and his Dad sing at Jamborees, Opry's, churches and Jubilees around Texas. He picked up playing the mandolin and the harmonica to form a duet and accompany himself.
Then they recruited Mama Liz to join them on stage playing the autoharp in the summer of 2006 and they love to play traditional country, ballads and the spiritual/traditional gospel music, as well as some of their original material.
In June 2008 the group released their first CD and Austin is currently writing and co-writing with his dad and mom for the next CD.
February 21, 2010 - The Valley Monitor
December 10, 2009
Fresh Hay especially the songs Stephanie,Kaw-Liga, We Aint Homeless, and i'm completely in love with Long Black Train it has to be one of my top 10 songs of all time! keep up the good singing, dude!
A New Fan
See the Guestbook for commemts as well.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
‘Fresh Hay’ CD a family affair
By LAURA ACUFF
Eagle Staff Writer
Bryan/College Station, Texas
Jacob Austin isn't the first teen to aspire to play in a band. Not many of his peers, however, can say they've fronted a group named after themselves.
With the release this summer of his debut album, Fresh Hay, the 19-year-old Anderson resident is hoping to transform his childhood dream into a career.
"There's a lot of people out there with less talent than some of these younger artists," Austin said during a recent talk with Spotlight, explaining that it's tough as a young musician to compete with those who have been in the business longer. "The artists are having a hard time getting out there.
"My strategy is to be so different that people will listen to it, and they'll like it, mostly because it's different."
His group, The Jacob Austin band, is a family affair. The teen takes center stage on vocals and the mandolin, while his father, David Austin, sings some harmony and plays the guitar. His mother, Liz Austin, recently joined the family onstage as well, rounding out their unique sound with a 36-stringed autoharp.
"We're not truly a bluegrass band. We're not truly straight country and not truly straight gospel," Liz Austin explained of the band's sound. "We're kind of a mixture of several genres."
But that's their goal, added David Austin, describing the sound as "gospel-grass." By not fitting perfectly into any single genre, they're making the music accessible to more people, he explained. In the end, however, they're still country, and Fresh Hay boasts several examples of mixing country with a little rock.
Jacob Austin, who started singing along to Barney on TV at the age of 3, first wowed his parents by identifying the keys of songs he heard on the radio. He started taking voice lessons around the age of 10 and joined Brazos Valley TROUPE about the same time.
TROUPE gave the young performer his first venue and, eventually, his first solo: a portion of the Schoolhouse Rock Preamble. From then on, he was hooked. While other kids practiced 12 or less hours a week, Jacob Austin clocked in nearly 40 on several occasions.
"I was very surprised and happy that he took the time to polish his delivery and his songs to that degree," David Austin said, explaining that the effort showed when his son was on stage. "It was just totally different from the other kids, because the other kids didn't get the face-time with the song, so to speak."
When Jacob Austin's voice started changing, he asked his father, who played guitar in several garage bands during the 1960s, to accompany him. The live accompaniment could offer greater flexibility of keys than the karaoke-style singing of TROUPE, the family figured. The Jacob Austin Band was born.
Jacob Austin's now-fully-developed bass flows unassumingly off the tracks of Fresh Hay, which can be ordered at www.jacob-austin.net.
Both Austin men authored lyrics and music for the self-released CD, and lyrics include everything from the death of a loved one to a shortage of picante sauce.
"We have always adhered to the thought that the music that you put forth and you write should reflect moral values instead of abnormal values," David Austin said. "We've tried to make ... more of a wholesome pattern for kids to follow.
"I think that's what a lot of kids are missing out on. They don't hear reinforcement of those values in the music that they listen to. In that manner, I think the Jacob Austin Band is trying to bridge that gap and say, 'Hey, don't forget about this stuff. It's important.'"
With performances lined up on weekends (their next one is Saturday at the Jacinto City Opry), the Jacob Austin Band practices up to one-and-a-half hours each night after David Austin gets home from work. The group spends most of their family time playing music.
While Jacob Austin hopes to graduate high school through home schooling and attend college -- possibly through online computer science classes -- he's just taking everything as it comes for now.
"I have two major passions, and that's computers and music. I'm having fun with each one. I'm happy that way," he said. "I think about how lucky I am to have done all this stuff and to be doing all this stuff, because there's a lot of people my age that would really love to do [what] I'm doing.
"It makes me happy when I think about it -- that I'm actually doing that stuff for real."
June 24, 2008
"I just listened to my copy (Fresh Hay)………..I hope it excites you as much as it did me. VERY NICE, everyone fit so well together.
A special “way to go” Jacob! Your vocals and mandolin are very good." - Mike M.
June 7, 2008
"I can't believe that big voice came out of this young man. What a surprise!" - A new fan
May 6, 2008
"When you (Jacob) sing the Star Spangled Banner I can hear you all the way on the steps of the church from the Park and it just thrills my soul!" - Pearl Steinkuehler
