Austin grew up immersed in words and music in his home in upstate South Carolina. He grew up with a love of classic writers including Oscar Wilde, O. Henry, Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas, he began writing his own poetry at nine years old. Musically, he received healthy doses of Motown, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and retro-country from the ‘50s, ‘60s and 70’s. This combination led him to the certainty that he would pursuing a career as a writer of some sort, and after picking up a guitar at the age of fifteen, he began to pour his passion and emotion into songs of his own.