Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin McNeill. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Austin McNeill (27) was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina. His musical roots began at the early age of 5 singing in his hometown Southern Baptist church choir. Austin grew up in a musical family that heavily influenced his taste for Country, Blues, Rock and Roll, and Motown. At the age of 15, he received his first guitar and taught himself to play without ever taking a single lesson. When he moved to Charlotte in 2014 to attend UNC Charlotte he began playing in venues and bars all across the state honing his craft and cutting his teeth.
In 2019 he formed his first band Seven Day Haze based out of Charlotte, NC. The band has acclimated to great success playing in all of the city’s most iconic music venues. With country music at his core, a solo country album has always been in the cards for Austin. His debut single and EP title track “Carolina” share with listeners his love for southern nostalgia, where he’s from, and how he was raised. He is happily married to his beautiful wife Mrs. Elise McNeill.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My road here has been one of many challenges. As a mixed person (white and black) I was raised by my white family in a small rural town that presented many racial challenges for me growing up. Finding my identity was a real process between who accepted me and where I fit in. Not being “black enough” for black people and my skin not being white (not fitting in with white people) made me feel like I was just stuck in the middle for a long time as a kid. I grew up with a single mother in a low-income household.
We lived with my grandmother and uncle (who is a father figure to me) off and on until I was 12 between my mom’s failed relationships. My biological father was never in the picture. During that time my mom was in and out of rehab a few times trying to get clean. That was a tough time for me and my sister. There was a good bit of domestic violence that occurred in our household with some of the men my mom would see. Being too young to do anything about it makes you feel kind of helpless. My mom finally got clean when before I turned 12 when she met my step dad and they have been married ever since.
My stepdad who is the man I call Dad these days is a hard-working blue-collar man who taught me how to step up for my family and always put them first. He’s always stood by my mother’s side through all the ups and downs and really supported my sister and me. Even though I had a rough childhood, my family loved and supported me, always reminding me that I could have more in life if I wanted it, and worked hard for it. My mom is a badass. She had a hard life growing up too and I’m so proud of who she’s become. She was always working different waitress jobs to support me and my sister when a man wasn’t in the picture and that had to be difficult for her. Sports and school were the most important things to me back then. None of my family ever went to college so when I moved out and headed for college it was such a big deal. I paid and worked my way through school. Those were tough times as well. “And rowdy and fun at the same time”.
When you are in college and you see people around you whose parents pay their way while you struggle to provide for yourself and still are expected to do well in school it can be tough. But one thing this life has thought me is that hard times makes a hard man and really show how strong you can be for yourself and the kind of character you build. I had a few part-time jobs during college. I worked at the car wash and Valeted cars. While working the car wash I met a local musician who let me open for his band around the city at various bar gigs. This kickstarted my professional music career and I didn’t have to work part-time jobs anymore. I graduated college at UNC Charlotte in 2018 with a 4-year degree in Business Analytics and a pretty solid musical resume to kickstart my passion as an adult.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Data Analytics/ Musician.
Up to this point as a musician, I still work a 9-5 day job in corporate America. I have been working in data analytics since I graduated college and it has been a great career for me to have. It allows me to pay my bills and fund my dreams until my dreams can fund themselves. I have a great sense of pride in the fact that I could just be happy with my day job and not do anything else.
But being a musician is my true passion and I sacrifice a lot of time with friends and family in the process of pursuing my dream. What sets me apart is that I have this burning intrinsic desire to constantly chase something in life and never become stagnant. What a bore!
What does success mean to you?
Success for me truly means just being happy. Regardless of how my life or career goals turn out being happy in life is most important.
Being able to take care of my family, and being a good husband, brother, son, and friend sounds like a success on its own to me. It’s the simple things in life that makes one successful. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/austinmcneillmusic?fbclid=PAAaa3eLqR6Xq2YRWkc7V7Cw6jKK1hn4wtyKEYGk3Bt9oLQ6fFRf0nODRNWS8
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinmcneillmusic/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk%3D
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-mcneill-6a46a014b
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@AustinMcNeillMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7mYDpUarg1iQgonYRRwpMR?si=HrtaDzQqR3SlvoPvI8fp8A
Image Credits
Gloria Zavaleta
