Austin Bryan French
[ GOOD FEELING Work ID No. 894976155 IPI No. 834705239 (FRENCH AUSTIN BRYAN)] (born February 13, 1994) is an American
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...
ian, who plays
Christian pop
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
style
contemporary worship music. He released his debut single, "Freedom Hymn", through Fair Trade Services on December 8, 2017. The song went on to receive radio play and ultimately peaked at No. 8 on the ''
Billboard''
Hot Christian Songs
Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...
chart.
Early and personal life
French grew up in the small town of Cordele, Georgia. When he was young, he wished to be a contemporary Christian artist who wrote songs that "shared his faith and passion for Jesus." He formed bands learning to take his music to stages, churches, and anyone who would listen. He began touring throughout his high school years. "We would fill up the church van or my best friend's Suburban and drive, praying that we would make it to the gigs without breaking down, just to play for 10 people and then do it again every weekend we could," says Austin. He saw a passion and calling from God to share music that was "rooted in the gospel." He began leading at Journey Church, in Tifton, Georgia at the age of 18 and became the full-time worship pastor. He met his wife, Joscelyn French, at the church. He led musicians and the congregation in worship for three years.
Music career
In 2014, Austin French was featured on the first season of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
TV show "
Rising Star," He performed songs such as "
Bless the Broken Road
"Bless the Broken Road" is a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists. Co-written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, and Jeff Hanna in 1994, it tells how the journey through relationship heartbreak and disappointment was ...
" and "
If I Ain't Got You
"If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the ...
".
He impressed millions of viewers, including guest judges
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive.
Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
,
Kesha, and
Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...
, and competed his way to the finale. He finished as the runner-up on the show and had the opportunity to share the stage with multi-platinum recording artist,
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...
.
After departing from ''Rising Star'', French began his journey into the CCM industry. He was led to his manager and CEO of One One 7, Jason Davis, a manager/partner with First Company Management. Through many writing trips to Nashville, Tennessee, Austin began to grow his ministry and develop into a true artist. His passion for ministry led him and his family to Delray Beach, Florida, serving as the worship pastor at The Avenue Church. While in Florida, French continued to write and travel to Nashville, writing songs and make friendships that would be vital to his future in the industry. After years of work, Austin signed a record deal with Fair Trade Services, a record label home for artists such as, The
Newsboys
Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which ...
,
MercyMe
MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian music band founded in Edmond, Oklahoma. The band consists of lead vocalist Bart Millard, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.
The b ...
,
Phil Wickham
Philip David Wickham (born April 5, 1984) is a Contemporary Christian musician, singer and songwriter from San Diego, California. Wickham has released nine albums: ''Give You My World'' in 2003, a self-titled album in 2006, ''Cannons'' in 2007 ...
,
Laura Story,
Hawk Nelson
Hawk Nelson is a Canadian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. Formed in 2000, the band has released eight studio albums to date.
History Early independent releases (2000–2003)
In 2000, Dunn, Clark, and Paige founded a Peterborough-based gr ...
and several other successful Christian artists.
French released his debut single "Freedom Hymn" on December 8, 2017. A lyric video was released on September 19, 2017. The single went on to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian Songs Top 10, peaking at No. 8. According to ''Billboard'', the song increased seven percent to 6.8 million impressions, and peaked at No. 7 on the Christian Airplay chart. His debut album ''Wide Open'' was released on September 7, 2018 and features 12 songs, including his singles "Freedom Hymn", "Wide Open", "Why God", "Born Again", and "Good Feeling".
The album went on to chart on the ''Billboard''
Top Christian Albums
Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...
and
Heatseekers Albums charts, at Nos. 30 and 9 respectively.
"Good Feeling" was featured in the teaser trailer for the 2024
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
film ''
Elio
Elio is an Italian male given name.
Origin
A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of it, Elio, label=none (Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. it, Elio, label=none derives, through the Latin ''Helius'', from the Ancient Greek á¼Î ...
''.
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
Singles
Promotional singles
Other charted songs
Other appearances
Competition singles
Awards
GMA Dove Awards
, -
, rowspan="1",
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, , Austin French , , New Artist of the Year , ,
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Austin
1994 births
Living people
American performers of Christian music
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
Songwriters from Tennessee