Raleigh, NC (Luck Media & Marketing/ Michael Lee Austin Official Website) - Just a few years ago, Michael Lee Austin was singing country cover songs in bar bands across his adopted home state of North Carolina, dreaming of what it would take to become famous country artist himself.
The answer: Lots of charisma (check), vocal talent (check), an uncanny ability to write and pick great songs (check) and most important, Labor Pains-which not coincidentally, is the title of his eagerly anticipated debut album.
Labor Pains marks the debut release from Edging's label, Alive Records, which will market its artists via both mainstream channels and through alternative and new internet marketing strategies.
Labor Pains' clever and witty title track, an instant crowd-pleaser featuring the tag line 'don't tell me about labor pains, just show me the baby,' is currently being promoted to country radio stations across America, and building momentum for the album with extremely positive feedback from radio programmers all across the USA.
'I wanted to come out with an honest to goodness traditional country record, as instead of a pop album that has those countrified production touches,' he adds. 'I grew up in Massena, a small town so far up in New York we were practically in Canada, and never listened to the radio. The music I heard came from spending a lot of time at my grandparents' house, where they had an old record player and albums by Hank Williams and Charley Pride. I think what makes a strong country record is the sound and the feeling it brings out.'
'From the time we decided to go ahead with this record and set about finding the best tunes to record, we kept asking, what makes me different?' Austin says. 'But it's not about what makes an artist different, because there are only so many ways to play country. It boils down to the song, how that song feels and makes you feel, how you deliver it and get the message across.
'When people listen to my music,' he continues, 'they tell me it doesn't sound like anyone else, and that's because of the way I hear the songs. I love listening to a lot of the new pop stuff, but as an artist myself, it's not my cup of tea. I want people who hear Labor Pains to feel like they've heard it someplace before, but they're not sure where - offering them something comfortable yet completely fresh.'
'Country songs are all about the story,' says Austin. 'They make people feel good because they're about everyday life and everyone can relate to them. Singing a great country tune is all about taking the listener's mind off the troubles of their day for three minutes, giving them a release, and making them laugh, cry or feel something new. Thirty seconds into Labor Pains, people hear the tag line and start laughing, and that's when I know I'm connecting with them."
Website: https://www.MichaelLeeAustin.com
