Premiere: Austin Meade, making Waves

Bad Habits? It's all good.

Whether it’s a battered heart or one in convalescence, the anguished sounds of a weeping soul or the ethereal laughter of enlightenment, life comes in waves for all of us. It’s about taking all the growing pains in the best possible stride and walking it off until only dull aching remnants remain.

Austin Meade believes that whatever part of life you are in, it’s all waves: some a bit daunting, some outright brutal, some the perfect wave. Meade doesn’t spell out the meaning of his songs, he lays out his stories and allows listeners to decode them, to determine the meaning for themselves. His guitar style—and his hair—recalls the ’70’s classic rock age, with live performances fueled by animal instinct. His live show approach draws the crowd directly into his world.

Meade’s brief time as a worship leader and playing music in his father’s church put him on the path to music. Beginning as a drummer, Meade played in a cover band for years while earning his business degree at Texas A&M. Now the front man of his own band based in New Braunfels, Texas, he slings guitar licks on tour and takes his next perfect ride with his second full-length album, Waves.

Waves comes at the right time for all of us looking for music of real substance. Meade told Elmore about a series of his own “waves:”

“Sometimes you wake up in a van with a 20-hour drive home and a pounding headache. In college I would have said ‘rad dude,’ and made the drive with a smile and some good stories. Then I blinked. I was 24 years old with nothing to my name except a van, some gear, and enough money to make it halfway home. I felt like I let ‘networking’ and ‘paying my dues’ slide into partying for a living. I would give myself a ‘Come to Jesus’ talk, and be back on track for a few weeks. Then, boom, all the thoughts of how I should grow up and get a ‘real job’ rush back into my head. That was a reoccurring cycle for a few years, and I decided to write about it instead of cry about it.

“I am my own worst critic, and I think that is necessary for anyone creating art or running a business. It creates internal drive for me to improve everything I do. Take those bad habits or negative experiences, realize that improvement can happen, and use it as inspiration for change.”

Austin Meade and his band are: Austin Meade (Lead vocal, guitar), David Willie (Lead guitar, harmony vocals), Seth Foster (bass, harmony vocals) and Brandon Turner (Drums).