Seth Austin’s Incredible Journey As Singer/Songwriter
March 22, 2018 By Andi Magnuson
Senatobia, Miss–It all started on the fireplace at 3-years-old. It was there that Seth Austin had his first musical debut performing for family members.
His performances progressed from there to holding concerts directly from his front porch on weekends entertaining family, friends and neighbors. With hard work and dedication, he now sings on stage and performs all over Memphis and the Mid-south.
Austin, 23, is a singer/songwriter who lives in Hernando, Mississippi and continues his musical career in a unique way.
Like many musicians, he admires others for their musical abilities.
“Elvis is kind of like the past top dog as the legacy leader,” Austin said. “Right now, I am really into Luke Combs and Brantley Gilbert, that kind of style. I like those guys.”
He has made a name for himself not only with his music but also with his charismatic charm and his lively stage presence.
His music floats between traditional country, southern rock and outlaw country with powerful lyrics that relate to him just as much as his listeners by applying personal experiences into musical inspiration.
“Other people’s lives can influence you, so why not use your life to influence other people,” Austin said. “That’s the way I look at it. It is all based on life, and that is what I like to base it off of.”
“I try not to write about beer and trucks so much,” Austin said. “I am 100 percent straight up with it…I would not write a farm song. I am not from a farm, so I don’t know anything about a farm other than there is a tractor on it, and they pick cotton, ha ha. I just write about stuff that I know about and try to make it relatable to all my fans even the ones that are not from the south.”
Seth has always had vocal talents, but unfortunately, he did not even learn to play the guitar until later.
“I did a competition it was like a country showcase thing,” Austin said. “I did not know how to play the guitar, so I got one of my buddies to back me up. I did not move through in the competition basically because they told me that if you’re going to continue to sing country music you’re going to need to know how to play guitar.”
He then took playing guitar as a challenge and learned to play by the time he was around 18 or 19-years-old.
“That is when I decided to do it, that is when I really started playing shows and building on my career,” Austin said.
On his journey, some of the things that he has experienced taught him “you got to work hard, be humble…about the smallest things because it all builds up into a big portfolio.”
“You have to go through the small stuff before you get to the big stuff, so it’s all got to be the same,” Austin said.
He has been recognized for his musical talents by Kix 106, 95.3 The Rebel, and a few internet radio stations where they play his single “I’m Alright” on-air. It is also available on Spotify and iTunes. “I’m Alright” has sold in six different countries, and is available for purchase all over the world.
Seth has competed in a few competitions, and he was a contestant for Kix 106 Nash Next in 2017.
“We (Seth and his best friend Nick Scott) veered off the road about a foot, and when he (Scott) came back on to the road he over-corrected so it just kind of sent the truck into a flip motion,” Austin said. “We flipped a few times. He (Scott) was thrown because he didn’t have a seat-belt on. I had mine on, so I just stayed inside with it. After it (the truck) stopped rolling we got hit by another car that was behind us. We were probably going about 70 because it was in a 65, so that is how that happened.”
During his visit to the hospital, he endured many surgeries and an amputation. His best friend had injuries also, but not to the extreme of Austin’s injuries.
“He(Scott) had some spine problems where he had to wear a neck brace for a little while, but other than that he really didn’t really have anything broke,” Austin said.
For Austin though, he was not that lucky.
“Well, my left leg got amputated because it just had too much damage to it,” Austin said. When I got to the hospital they said that the limb had no pulse, basically, it was already dead…I fractured and dislocated a finger, I dislocated my hips, I fractured my femur, I fractured my humerus in my arm and I lost a tooth, but I got that back he said while laughing.”
His younger brother Preston Strickland did not know anything about the wreck until the next morning when his mom called him and told him “that Seth had been in a bad wreck.”
“His mom did not even tell me if Seth was okay or not,” Strickland said.
Because of the small amount of information Strickland was given he automatically thought the worst.
“No one was telling me anything, so I thought he was dead,” Strickland said.
When Strickland walked into the hospital to his family crying it made him feel even more convinced that his brother was dead.
“As bad as it seemed I thought I was never going to get to see him again,” Strickland said. “So, the whole ride there all I could think about was the good times we had together, all of us brothers just playing in the yard or playing tackle football in the living room.”
Thank goodness for moms though. She comforted her son and informed him about what all was going on as soon as he got to the hospital.
“She dropped all the minor injuries on me first,” Strickland said. “Then when she told me about the leg that really got to me.”
Even though all the family knew what was going on when Austin was in the hospital, he did not know the extent of his injuries until days after the wreck.
“I woke up after the initial surgery, but your just on so much (medications) you don’t even know what is going on,” Austin said. “On day six, they kind of weaned me off the drugs to tell me here is all your injuries, this is what is going on and this is what you’re going to have to look forward to.”
When he was told about what had happened he was in shock.
“I didn’t know I was that hurt because you are just on so many medications that you don’t feel anything, so you are like it can’t be that bad,” Austin said. “The other stuff it heals, but when they told me about my leg I was kind of pissed off.”
He did not take it as hard as some people would, but since he was 22-years-old that was hard news absorb.
“Right then, you just think about stuff like I’ve got so much still to do, and now, I am missing a leg,” Austin said. “It’s like how am I going to do that? So, I was just thinking about everything I still needed to do.”
Since his wreck, the definition of his song released in 2017 “I’m Alright,” has transformed to mean something completely different. Even though, in his song, he describes how he is singing with the angels and looking down on his loved ones from heaven. He has now endured tragedy and is attempting to progress in his musical career, so the new meaning is I am going to be alright. I will make it.
He is recovering, and you can still catch him on stage performing his original songs or maybe a cover of one of your favorite country songs in a new kind of twang.
“I love to perform, but it is just not exactly what I would like it to be while in a wheelchair, Austin said. “I have been taking it real slow, so mainly right now, I have been writing and learning new songs.”
He is dedicating his extra time, that he now has, to his hopeful music career.
“I have a lot of time to write and I look at it as like a big, long vacation that work would never give me off,” Austin said. “Now that I got this time off, I just spend it writing. I have not been playing as much as I want to because being in a wheelchair it kind of confines you to one area.”
He is looking forward to getting his prosthetic and hopes that he will be able to perform more like he was before the accident.
“My insurance and doctors have approved everything, so they ordered the parts and will get started on the build,” Austin said. “I am really looking forward to the challenge and joy it will bring.”
Austin’s drive to continue to further his career in the music industry is stronger than ever and he remains positive and pushes others to follow their passions and not give up.
“I didn’t let losing a leg and being in a wheelchair stop me from living my dreams,” Austin posted recently on Facebook. “What’s stopping you from doing yours? #BeTheChallenge”
Family members and friends are supportive of Austin’s choice to continue in his music career too.
“I want him to be like the next Luke Combs,” Strickland said. “He knows that. We all know that, and he’s going to be.”