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Austin Brown talks to Everything Nash about auditioning for AGT twice, his journey after Home Free, new music and more
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0:00
Hey guys, it's Gail with Everything Nash
0:02
here with my friend Austin Brown. We
0:05
have so much to talk about.
0:06
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to be here.
0:07
Thank you for uh taking some time with
0:09
me.
0:09
Thank you for s taking some time with
0:11
me. Okay, so AGT, let's start at the
0:14
beginning. Tell me what it took in you
0:17
to go audition the first time. Talk me
0:19
through that.
0:20
You know, it's something that I had said
0:22
many, many years ago that I would never
0:23
ever do a reality TV show again. and I
0:26
had a great experience many years back
0:28
um and and thought I'd never do that
0:30
again. But then I talked to the right
0:31
people, they said, "No, you should
0:33
really try this." And I thought, you
0:35
know what? It would make my dad so happy
0:38
if I did that cuz he's he's sent me so
0:40
many videos of AGT over the years. So, I
0:43
thought, you know, what better time and
0:45
opportunity than right now. Let me go
0:46
audition, see what we learn, show
0:49
America myself. And uh well, I guess
0:52
well, here we are now. We know how we
0:54
know how. Huh?
0:56
So, you went on AGT. You first of all,
0:59
is Terry Cruz as nice as everybody
1:02
thinks he is? Because he I want to be
1:03
his best friend.
1:04
No, I think I think my wife and him are
1:06
actually best friends now. And really,
1:07
oh my goodness. No, he is absolutely the
1:10
kindest, most gentle spirit in the this,
1:15
you know, refrigerator of a body. And
1:18
his hands, he shook my hands. I don't
1:20
have small hands. got, you know, I've
1:22
got pretty pretty big hands, relatively
1:23
speaking. His hands dwarfed my hands and
1:26
I was just I was like, "Wow." So that's
1:28
what shaking a football player's hand
1:29
feels like, you know.
1:31
Yeah. Because he's Terry Cruz,
1:32
right?
1:32
Okay. So then talk me through you're
1:34
backstage. You go out, you do this
1:37
amazing performance and then two of the
1:41
judges say yes and two of the judges say
1:43
no. What was going on inside Austin
1:44
Brown?
1:45
You know, it's interesting going back
1:46
right back to Terry. I walked off stage,
1:48
the judges said said no. Terry starts
1:51
talking to me and he gives me the
1:53
greatest pump up speech and like your
1:56
consiliatory speech I've ever had in my
1:58
life and I I uh I was looking him dead
2:01
in the eyes and I didn't hear any of it.
2:04
My wife told me afterwards everything he
2:07
said cuz she was standing there with
2:08
with us, you know, she was on side stage
2:10
with him. They were both booing the
2:11
judges together. Um yeah, it was uh
2:17
it was just blank. I I was shocked.
2:19
Honestly, I had never thought cuz I felt
2:21
like that was one of the best times I've
2:23
ever sang in a situation where I was
2:25
that nervous. I felt like I did well,
2:28
feel like I did close to my best. And
2:31
for them, for me to have gotten two nos,
2:32
I was really just sort of immediately
2:34
astounded and also thinking in my head,
2:37
okay, everything happens for a reason.
2:39
is as I start to breathe, Terry walks
2:41
off and I'm sitting there thinking,
2:42
talking to my wife about it and I think
2:44
to myself, okay,
2:47
he Simon said, "Maybe I could come back.
2:49
Maybe I could come back. Maybe maybe
2:52
that's everything happens for a reason,
2:53
right? Every that's the one thing in my
2:56
whole life, no matter what it feels
2:57
like, it's for the best, you know?" And
3:00
so found the producer, I asked them,
3:03
they said, "Let's see." And they said,
3:05
"I tell you what, we'll extend your
3:06
hotel." because I was supposed to be
3:08
there for three days. They had already
3:10
pushed me a day. Things were running
3:12
behind. So, I had to go a day late for
3:14
my first audition. And I I asked the
3:16
producer and yeah, and you know, and the
3:18
next day I I heard from them. They
3:20
called me in the hotel room. They said,
3:21
"Hey, not yet. We're going to extend you
3:23
another day. Maybe we're still trying.
3:25
We had a lot of schedule things pop up.
3:27
We can't find a moment to get you in,
3:29
but we're trying. We're trying to see if
3:30
we can make it work. No guarantees, but
3:33
we're trying."
3:33
Which says something. It says that they
3:35
saw something in you that because I'm
3:38
sure everybody wants a second chance.
3:39
Sure. Absolutely. You know, and I got to
3:41
say somebody on the AGT team believes in
3:43
me and they really pushed, you know, to
3:45
try and get me that second opportunity.
3:48
Um, and and I will also say flash like I
3:50
wish that you had been able to see, you
3:52
know, because the everybody's audition
3:54
probably lasts five times longer, you
3:56
know, than the actual thing they air,
3:58
right? Because they edit it down to
3:59
what's best for the moment in TV to
4:01
capture it all. like Melb and Sophia,
4:03
they they loved the my first audition,
4:06
you know, and so that gave me the
4:07
confidence to think if I had the chance
4:08
to come back, if someone like Mel B who
4:10
can be really critical of other singers.
4:12
If someone like her can come on and and
4:16
celebrate, I can come on rather and she
4:17
can celebrate what I'm doing. She's on
4:19
she was on her feet, you know,
4:21
applauding that made me think, okay, I
4:23
got if I get the chance, I'm going to
4:24
come back. So, we were supposed to be
4:26
there for 3 days. We ended up being
4:28
there for 11.
4:29
Oh my gosh, Austin.
4:30
Yeah. They finally called us and said,
4:31
"Okay, tomorrow you're going on." They
4:32
called me 15 minutes later. They said,
4:34
"Actually, no, Austin, two days from
4:36
now. You're going to go on. You're going
4:37
to do your other audition." Uh, and we
4:40
we talked about it a lot with the
4:42
producers with my team. And in L at
4:46
first, they wanted me to do another
4:47
cover, something big and flashy, just
4:49
like When a Man Loves a Woman, but I
4:52
thought to myself, there's no way that
4:54
I'm going to sing another cover and
4:56
potentially go home. I'm not going to
4:58
waste this opportunity to at least show
5:00
my music. So, that's what we did. We uh
5:05
And also, when you posted after the
5:07
first one, so many people commented
5:09
about doing an original song. I thought
5:10
it was interesting.
5:11
So many people unprompted have been
5:13
like, "You should have sung something
5:14
original. You should have sung something
5:15
original." And uh you know, I I
5:18
definitely don't regret that choice
5:19
because you know, I got the other
5:21
opportunity to sing. But uh yeah, I'm
5:24
and I'm glad. But yeah, that's why we
5:25
didn't do another cover. we decided to
5:27
do an original. Um, it was the original
5:29
we had kind of hoped to sing the whole
5:30
time going out there and uh, and yeah,
5:33
so you know, 11 days after or 10 days
5:36
after I got there, I got to sing that
5:38
second time. And
5:39
how nervous were you?
5:41
I was less nervous for the second for
5:43
the second audition than the first one
5:45
because I thought because I'd already
5:46
had some experience and I knew what I
5:49
was doing was going to be myself and
5:52
regardless of whether the judges said
5:54
yes or not I was going to have an
5:55
opportunity to show America hopefully,
5:57
right? Because that's the other thing is
5:58
you don't know just because you get the
5:59
audition that they're going to air it.
6:00
They make that very clear, you know.
6:02
episode this whole time, right up until
6:05
they aired the episode, I didn't know if
6:07
they were going to air my second
6:09
opportunity because they've they have
6:11
not aired some other people. So, but
6:13
regardless to go to go back, yeah, I I
6:16
sang that song and the moment I walked
6:19
on stage, the judges faces were just
6:24
like Simon was genuinely like,
6:27
you know, the first thing he said was,
6:28
"Oh my gosh, I when I said maybe you
6:30
could come back, I thought like next
6:31
year." I hate now, but you're here, you
6:34
know. And then to hear him read off my
6:37
bio, him introducing me, that also just
6:40
made me feel like at home. We didn't do
6:42
the whole thing again. Austin, who are
6:43
you? Where are you from? For all the new
6:44
people, he was like, "No, we know. The
6:46
judges know. This is who he is,
6:48
America." And he introduced me and I was
6:50
just like, "Okay, wow. All right." Uh,
6:52
yeah. And having my wife there again was
6:54
honestly the best. So just getting to
6:57
sing that song, a song that honestly it
7:01
feels like it was written for that
7:02
moment,
7:03
you know, it literally talks about
7:06
turning nos into yeses. I mean, you you
7:09
know, you saw it, America saw it. It
7:11
it's uh it still feels like a dream, you
7:15
know, but it's it's uh it just keeps
7:17
getting better and I'm just I'm just
7:19
grateful for the journey and I'm really
7:20
optimistic
7:22
that we're going to be here for that
7:23
next round for those live episodes. So,
7:25
the judges were very encouraging this
7:28
time.
7:28
Oh my goodness. Yes. Resoundingly yes.
7:31
And uh and I'm still, you know, sort of
7:34
pinching myself going, "No, they all
7:36
they all loved it." You know, even
7:38
Howie, who seemed to be the hardest one
7:40
to flip, was the first one to be like, I
7:42
loved it.
7:42
I love that for you. So, what does this
7:44
do for you, Austin? Because you were
7:46
with Home Free and everybody knew you at
7:48
Home Free for so long, and then you made
7:50
the bold move to leave because you
7:52
wanted to do other things. What does
7:53
this do for you?
7:55
It builds my confidence. It makes me
7:56
think, okay, this is this is the right
7:59
choice. You know, it's really confirming
8:01
for the journey getting to here. Um, and
8:04
it gives me the opportunity to to show
8:07
America, you know, who I am, to show,
8:10
you know, Simon. It's somebody that I've
8:12
been wanting. You know, I've been
8:13
daydreaming about impressing Simon since
8:14
I auditioned for the second season of
8:16
American Idol when I was
8:19
15 or 16. You know, I slept on the side
8:22
of the road in Atlanta when my daddy who
8:24
drove me up there to try
8:26
and I didn't even get past the first
8:27
round, you know, but that's that's okay.
8:30
Everything happens for a reason. But
8:31
yeah, to having this opportunity, it
8:34
there's nothing better that, you know, I
8:36
literally I was just looking up the
8:37
stats and stuff like it's literally the
8:39
number one, you know, talent show out
8:41
there. Like there's no comparison. And
8:44
so, uh, yeah, it just it gives me the
8:46
opportunity to to fulfill my dreams to
8:48
to maybe one day be a member of the
8:50
Grand Opry and to, you know, win CMA
8:52
awards and and make it on the country
8:54
radio. This is a step in that direction
8:57
and, uh, you know, I'm just looking
8:59
forward to every step that comes after
9:00
it, too.
9:00
Give me the story behind the song that
9:02
you performed.
9:03
It's called Somebody Believed. It's a
9:05
song about um overcoming obstacles. It's
9:08
a It's a song about believing in
9:09
yourself, maybe when no one else does.
9:11
It's a song about how sometimes when you
9:14
don't believe in yourself, all you need
9:16
is that one person around you to be the
9:18
wind in your sales to believe in you.
9:20
Um, it's a song that, uh, yeah, I'm
9:23
going to be singing for the rest of my
9:24
career. Uh, I love it. It's one of the
9:27
most fun songs I have to sing right now.
9:30
And, um, you know, I'm just just loving
9:33
the response that I'm getting from from
9:35
everyone who hears it.
9:37
And can we talk a little bit about your
9:38
sweet wife?
9:39
Oh my god. Please, please.
9:42
She's such a great I love you. She's
9:44
such a great supporter. Talk about her
9:46
support in this journey.
9:47
You know, she's my she's my biggest
9:49
supporter. She has been since day one.
9:50
She's believed in me, you know, just
9:53
like she's like that that that person in
9:55
the song, that wild card who believes in
9:57
you, you know. She uh I'll never forget
9:59
years ago whenever I was needing some
10:01
help like trying to trying to organize
10:04
my my business and she was giving me a
10:08
little, you know, advice. Then she goes,
10:09
"You know what? I could do I could do
10:10
all this and you could do X Y and Z. I
10:14
could build you a website, blah blah
10:15
blah. And I was like, really? Seriously?
10:18
I was like, you know, please do it. She
10:20
did it. Everyone who works with her is
10:23
like, oh my god, she's amazing. And they
10:25
all try and hire her to work for them
10:27
immediately. Literally, you know, all
10:30
everybody that I know is like, please.
10:31
And then she's like, no, I don't want to
10:32
do that.
10:33
She's like, I help my husband because I
10:35
love him, but I don't want to do this
10:36
for anyone else other than him. Uh
10:38
because eventually I want to, you know,
10:40
rehabilitate. Well, she is a wildlife
10:42
animal rehabilitator first off, but
10:45
eventually, you know, I want to help her
10:47
chase her dreams of opening a wildlife
10:49
hospital um here in Tennessee and and uh
10:53
and a wildlife sanctuary, too. So, for
10:55
native wildlife,
10:56
I love how your face lights up every
10:58
time you talk about her.
10:59
Ah, she's my best friend. I never
11:01
thought uh it's so funny. Today I just
11:03
found a journal entry from literally 12
11:05
years ago to today and it's unbelievable
11:08
like what it showed me about who and
11:11
what I was looking for and she just
11:12
really fits the whole bill. Uh yeah,
11:15
she's she's the best and I hope
11:16
everybody gets a chance to uh to have a
11:18
relationship like that.
11:19
Okay, so new music on AGT. What else can
11:22
you tell me about new music coming from
11:23
Austin?
11:24
Well, we've got music for the live
11:25
episodes if we get there. You know,
11:27
you're going to get there.
11:28
I hope so. You would think so, right?
11:30
But then nothing's guaranteed. just like
11:31
that second episode airing, there's a
11:33
chance that it didn't happen that way.
11:35
So, I'm not counting my chickens. But,
11:38
uh, yeah, that said, we have been
11:40
writing music every day since that since
11:44
we got back from LA after I got that
11:46
second audition. Hopefully, you know,
11:48
being able to make it forward. We've
11:49
been writing new music, stuff that no
11:51
one's heard yet, stuff that is uh, oh, I
11:54
think it's a step up in the journey from
11:56
all the things that have brought me
11:57
here. You know, it's it's uh I think it
12:01
can compete with anything on country
12:02
radio and it also just feels so
12:04
authentically me. I get to sing in a way
12:07
that I just haven't for people in a long
12:08
time and I'm just I really can't wait to
12:10
see uh how people respond.
12:13
So, you took the big leap. You went out
12:15
on your own. Grateful
12:17
is is that's that should be my middle
12:19
name. You know,
12:21
my wife and I talk sometimes about
12:23
starting a family. Maybe we should name
12:25
our our child's middle name Grateful.
12:26
just be those weird people.
12:28
I mean, I think that I I like it. I
12:30
would approve of that. I'm just saying.
12:31
If you can't tell, she's sitting right
12:32
there.
12:33
And we love her. I love her. Okay, so
12:35
let's talk about Simon because I know he
12:38
is an integral part of all of AGT in
12:40
more ways than one. You performed for
12:43
him the second time and he loved it.
12:46
Tell me what that means to Austin.
12:49
You know, Simon's the boss, right? Simon
12:51
is the boss at AGT. He, you know, he is
12:54
a a legend. Uh, and like I said earlier,
12:57
he's somebody that I've been looking up
12:58
to since I was a kid going, okay, so his
13:01
opinion, it it it can help a lot. You
13:03
know, I was uh I wasn't nervous um to be
13:07
there and and sing in front of all those
13:09
people. I've sung in front of big
13:10
crowds. I've sung on television, but
13:13
being in front of Simon, you know, he
13:15
knows so clearly when something is
13:20
really good. You know, don't get me
13:21
wrong, he's been wrong before, but like
13:24
when he says it's great, he's always
13:26
right about that. So, I I wanted nothing
13:28
more than to impress him. He did say a
13:31
lot of kind things, but in, you know,
13:33
ultimately he said no that first time.
13:35
And for him to completely, you know,
13:37
flip around, come to the table, and have
13:39
my back, say yes. And, you know, his
13:42
face lit up when I was singing that
13:44
second song. Um that uh that truly is is
13:48
maybe the greatest feather in my cap to
13:50
this point in my career is having Simon
13:52
Cowell say yes. Austin, you know, I uh I
13:56
couldn't I couldn't ask for anything
13:58
more and I'm just so excited, you know,
14:00
to to keep going on this journey and uh
14:02
and hopefully show him he was more than
14:05
wrong about his first opinion.
14:06
But I mean, he does have great
14:08
instincts. So the fact that he let you
14:10
come back and say, I love that. I love
14:12
that.
14:12
Absolutely.
14:13
Okay. Okay. Well, you know, I could talk
14:14
to you all day and eat Mexican food with
14:15
you all day because we've done that,
14:16
too. But I have to let you go. What do
14:18
you want to say to people about being on
14:20
AGT?
14:20
You know, um, go watch my performances
14:24
on on AGT on YouTube. Leave comments,
14:27
share uh, those videos, like them, and
14:31
tell everybody on the internet and
14:34
everybody at AGT and everybody at NBC
14:36
just how much you believe in me and how
14:38
much more you want to see of me on AGT.
14:41
go tell them because you are the person
14:43
the people who helped me achieve success
14:46
uh on AGT. So it's it's without you I'm
14:50
nothing. Thank you so much for
14:52
everything you do and thank you for
14:54
having me here.
14:54
I love talking. Oh, it's gonna this is
14:57
you know one of many over the years I'm
14:58
sure.
14:59
I hope Austin Brown friends
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