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Opry North

Name: Julian Austin

Age: 37

Birth date: August 24, 1963

Home town: St. John, New Brunswick

Resides in: Calgary, Alberta

Group name: The Austinators

Instruments played: Guitar

Finished CD's: "What My Heart Already Knows" - released 1997 - BMG Canada

"Back In Your Life" - released 2000 - BMG Canada

Cd's for sale: - "What My Heart Already Knows" - released 1997 - BMG Canada

"Back In Your Life" - released 2000 - BMG Canada

Management:

Coalition Entertainment

Suite 202

10271 Young Street,

Richmond Hill, ON

L4C 3B5

Email: info@CoalitionEnt.com

Record Label:

BMG Music Canada

National Office

150 John Street, 6th Floor,

Toronto, ON

M5V 3C3

Email: jill.snell@bmge.com

Website: http://www.julianaustin.com

Julian Austin has had more life changing experiences in his 37 years than most of us will ever have but the singer will admit that right now, he’s in a very good place and very satisfied with his life. With the second CD of his career, “Back In Your Life” spawning very successful singles so far and a year full of appearances in all parts of the country, plus a new wife and a ton of nominations in September’s Canadian Country Music Association’s annual awards Julian can look in the mirror and say “I did that” with conviction. This man with the past that reflects the early years of country legends like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings may have started out like the greats of Nashville but he’s 100% Canadian and very proud of it. Julian’s music is country by choice, his home is in Canada by choice and I think it’s safe to say that his fans love him (and show it) everywhere he goes, by choice.

A native of St. John, New Brunswick on Canada’s East Coast, Julian grew up fast and learned his lessons the hard way. A self-confessed drinker at 11 years old, he graduated to drugs and served time as a minor for breaking and entering and later again for drug charges. The second jail term was what prompted the turn around as Julian admits he “hit bottom” and he then turned to music as a less self-destructive way of making a living and having some fun. Playing many different types of music and focusing on rock for a while, Julian began writing his own material and found that he was pretty good at it. As he began to explore his new found talent he found that country songs had a certain message that transcended time and actually said something, and he fit right in with his songs and his talent. So country it was. And now for the name. Julian was told when his father was dying of cancer that he was adopted, so to find out more about himself Ken McPhee started searching for his birth family. Discovering that his musical roots ran deep and that his birth name was Julian Austin he decided that it was time to follow his genes and took both music and his name back and headed off down the road we know so well.

Releasing his first CD “What My Heart Already Knows” for BMG Canada in 1997 earned him the 1997 Wrangler Rising Star Award at that years CCMA’s and produced the hits “Little Ole Kisses” and the still popular “Diamond” and established Julian as a powerhouse entertainer with a band to boot, as the Austinators have been the 1999 reigning “Back-Up Band of the Year” for Canada. The latest CD, released in March 2000 had a hit right off the bat with the single “Back In Your Life”. Produced by Daniel LeBlanc and with the songs all written or co-written by Julian the CD has proven to be filled with fan-pleasing songs like “Good At Bein’ Bad”, “Holdin’ On For 8” and the other hits like “Take The Money and Run” and “Forever Loving You”. This year has had Julian crossing back and forth across the country in support of his new CD and fans are loving every minute of it. This success has earned him 6 nominations this year by the CCMA in the Fan’s Choice Award, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Song of the Year (a SOCAN award) and Video of the Year categories. While all the accolades are nice, Julian admits that the Fan’s Choice Award for Entertainer of the Year means the most to him since they’re on the road playing so much and explains, “ It’s nice to be acknowledged, but I don’t get excited about awards. What does it for me is the attendance at shows.” Julian and the boys have nothing to worry about it that department and regularly tell the fans how much they mean to them. “There are no other loyal, dedicated fans like the fans in country music and that’s the God’s honest truth,” is what one lucky crowd were told and Julian means it, right from the heart.

Professional accomplishments aside Julian has had some success in his private life too, with the arrival of his wife Angela. Being married has opened his eyes to another world and he couldn’t be happier, describing falling in love and getting married as “...that’s a good thing”. First he had to convince Angela. Opening for Michelle Wright, who has Julian’s admiration as “...a very classy lady...” and “...a great vocalist...” , Julian met Angela backstage when she attended the show with a cousin of Julian’s. He describes it as “From Day 1, I could tell she wasn’t impressed with the man coming off the stage. Her eyes, ahhh, she’s got these eyes that are so sincere. And her smile is great. I’m a face guy.” Settling in with Angela in Calgary, Julian feels right at home with his newfound brethren, the rodeo riders.

While the fans all across Canada have no problem expressing their admiration Julian did meet one crowd who failed to rise to the Austin charm and riled him up. It was playing for an audience full of cowboys. Julian reflected on that show by saying, “I was mad that night, but from that moment on I really wanted to get to know those people.” Being drawn to their lifestyle and what he describes as their “Kind and tough nature” he began investigating why they do what they do and started off with riding mechanical bulls. He ultimately succeeded, staying on for the 8 seconds at level 12 and injuring his back in the process in 1998. He next considered getting on the back of a real bull and began to take lessons at a bull riding school, which led to a series of mishaps including fracturing a bone in his neck, pinching a nerve resulting in numbness in one arm, cracking three ribs and his final performance on January 9, 2000 when he slipped off of a 1,4000 bull. The resulting beating left him with four broken ribs, three bruised ribs, a punctured lung and a large gash in his leg and some time in intensive care. The one positive thing he’s reported is that his lung capacity seems to have improved due to the inhaler he’s had to use as his lung recovered and songs that used to wind him during shows don’t anymore. With his riding days behind him he now owns a rodeo bull, a brown and black fellow he’s named “The Austinator” and he has hopes the day will come when the bull competes at the Stampede. So if you happen to attend the Stampede one year and see that “The Austinator” is competing, take a good look into the crowd. You may see a smile from ear to ear.

Julian Austin has achieved a satisfactory level of success with his second CD this year and he doesn’t hesitate to put the blame right where it belongs - on his fans. Never one to hide the fact that his fans are the reason he’s working so hard or that they mean the world to him, more than awards or critics praise, this Canadian country star is an example that anyone can turn their life into what they may only dream of. By overcoming an early life of wrong choices and learning from mistakes Julian Austin has made his dream a reality and is very aware that earning and proving himself worthy of the fans respect and love is the fuel that will keep the dream going. He knows many of his fans by name and looks forward to seeing them again and again at shows, telling little stories about them from the stage or heading out to the crowd to say a personal hello before launching into songs they want to hear and know off by heart. It’s been said that the most touching thing an artist can experience is hearing those hundreds or thousands of voices singing your song back to you while you’re on stage. Julian hears it every time he performs, and it gets him every time.

Demonstrating a loyalty to his fans is what will keep him in Canada, as he recently proved during a performance opening for super-group Alabama in Hamilton Ontario on August 23, 2000. As he strode back and forth across the front of the stage he informed the crowd that while he may not have done the commercial, the words that mean the most and describe him perfectly are “I Am Canadian”, which brought an absolute roar of approval from the thousands filling Copps Coliseum. He then informed the crowd that the reason there have been awards, nominations and the like is because of them and, taking a confrontational pose in front of the microphone he yelled out, “You rock!” Proclaiming his intention of staying put in Canada has always been important to Julian and he has said he has no intention of running south of the border: “A lot of people might think I’m full of b.s. but I’ve lived here for 36 years. I went gold in six months in Canada. It’s my own country that’s given me that. I don’t have any huge aspiration to go to Nashville, though it’s a place I’d like to visit”.

We have been fortunate in that we’ve attended many events where Julian has performed and we’ve had the chance to see his energetic show get better and better. He’s always been friendly and very professional with everyone, plus a bit of a ham when it comes to posing for the crowd or for photos. We’re almost positive that he blew our photographer a kiss at one show (at least that’s what the photos look like) and we watched a toddler run up on stage to give him a kiss at another. He’s teased the crowd, teased the band, started sing-alongs and had the crowd screaming for more at the end of every show. He was given a bit of his own back when the band turned the tables on him at the Alabama show. When the time came to exit the stage at the end of their set and the band didn’t move Julian turned to see what was going on and two young women stepped on-stage with a lit birthday cake for Julian’s birthday, which is August 24 (the next day). With the band’s encouragement and to their accompaniment the thousands of people stood and sang “Happy Birthday” to one of their own. And they cheered when he managed to blow all his candles out. For a man who has given so much of himself to the fans, the fans wanted to give something back. And they did.

When you see Julian in concert look around at the crowd. You will see people from every generation, all gazing at the stage with pride, love and admiration. You will see retirees clapping along or bobbing their heads, little kids dancing or waving at the stage and teenagers striding around with Austin T-shirts or black cowboy hats on. And this will happen no matter where you are in Canada. This is one guy with enough of that fuel mentioned earlier to keep his dream going for as long as he has breath to sing, and that will be a long, long time.

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