We’ve had our eye on Austin Snell since the beginning, and watching him find his lane and grow tremendously has really been fun to watch. Even in the early days, you could tell something was building. Rock edge. Country soul. Something different.
Now he’s leveling up again with his newest track, “I Mean It.” It’s loud. Emotional. Desperate in the best way. The kind of song that sounds like a heart trying to beat its way out of your chest.
Written with a stacked crew (Michael Whitworth, Andrew Baylis, Riley Thomas, and Conor Matthews) this one isn’t all polished and pretty. It’s rugged and real. A song about giving everything you’ve got to save something slipping through your fingers.
“This is definitely one of my favorite songs I’ve been a part of,” Austin said. “It brings me back to that raw, original rock sound I started with, and I’ve really missed that.”
You can feel it. In the guitars. In the vocal. In the way the whole thing surges forward like it might fall apart if you stop listening. It sounds like passion. Like pleading. Like someone trying to hold on tight.
“I Mean It” follows up “Heavy Metal” and the “Muddy Water Rockstar” remix with Brantley Gilbert. Those releases showed off the different sides of what Austin can do. But this one feels especially locked in. Like he’s fully found his voice.
Still Bleeding, his debut album, was a statement. It wasn’t trying to chase trends. It just existed exactly as it is. Honest. Heavy. Unapologetic. The media took notice. Features from American Songwriter, MusicRow, and The Tennessean. That last one called him “an artist worth watching.” We agree.
Austin grew up in Georgia (among other places). Spent time in the Air Force. Got raised on a mix of hard rock and country radio. That blend is baked into every single track he makes. “Grunge country” is what he calls it. And it fits. Screaming guitars, confessional lyrics, heavy vibes that somehow still feel intimate (Hint, it’s his incredible vocal expression).
His breakout song “Excuse the Mess” picked up over a million streams in its first week. That was before a label deal. Before a debut album. Before all of this. Just a great song with real emotion behind it.
Now? He’s sitting at 338 million global streams. With a fanbase that is starting to feel like a movement.
If you’ve got something to say and you need to shout it, this is your song. If you’ve ever stood in front of someone you love, knowing you might lose them, and told them how you really feel… this is your song.
Go stream “I Mean It.” Feel it. Live in it. That’s what Austin Snell’s doing.