AUSTIN LEE SPEIGEL

Fear should be treated like fire. It's a good thing. It keeps you warm. It can also burn the fucking house down.USE YOUR FEAR........................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ .........I was born January 13, 1977 in Richmond, Virginia. My appreciation for music started at the early age of three. I performed "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis for my pre-school class. I have a recording of it. I'll have to let you hear it sometime, it's hysterical. I moved to Cincinnati in 1980. I always loved music when I was young, and knew that it was a part of me even though my family never had a history of musical inclination. I remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I ever heard "King of Pain" by The Police in 1983. It's pretty cool to be able remember my first "favorite song." It still is one of my favorites today. I play it at every show as a reminder to myself that certain loves will never leave my side. At the beginning of high school I started playing the drums and formed my first band. I started singing shortly thereafter and then became the lead vocalist of the band, "The Mad Hatters." My indestructible curiosity later led me to the guitar and to song writing. My song writing truly began to amplify during my second year of college, which I spent in Durango, Colorado. While I was there I performed in coffee shops, open mic nights, bars, on campus.....honestly anywhere I could. I came back to Cincinnati after the amazing year out West and started performing around the Cincinnati bar scene with a friend named Michael Shearer(Low Key). We were still performing as an acoustic duo in the winter of 1998 when I was approached by local producer, Mark Santangelo. He was interested in recording and helping me put together a record. On January 13 we started production on what would become my first album. The time I spent in the studio began to define my musical career. I was surrounded by different musicians everyday and they each influenced me in unique ways. I love to learn new stuff, and having never been in a studio before, I sometimes became "the annoying questions guy". I was so inspired creatively by working in that environment, I now refer to that time period as, "My Music School." My album, "Sound Away", was released December of 1999. From that point, many new influences began to surface in my life and my music. I was playing live, meeting new people, and writing songs....still, I hadn't recorded since my album came out. I got ahold of one of the sound engineers from Sound Away, who I honestly thought was an asshole(still do. J.K.), and asked him if he was interested in recording a new song I composed. I knew he could help me obtain the new sound I wanted, but was unsure if he would be willing to do so. He agreed to record the song, and a great friendship was discovered as well. Dave Wheeler (audiofiles) was one of the first people to push me in musical areas where I never realized I needed to be pushed. After being around him, my ear grew sharper, my guitar playing abilities increased, my studio skills began to multiply, and my attitude towards my own music became more intense. During that time in my life, I was enduring my first heartbreak and music was saving me. All of the immediate friends I was running with were musicians. I had wanted this all my life. That group lead me to the next major influence. I had heard of this "cat" around town who played the saxophone and sang his ass off. I heard some demo recordings he had done on the "Dirt Bucket" record from "Low Key." It was a while before we met, but I don't think either of us knew what would hit when we finally did. His name is James Gambrell(Austin and James, A.K.A. Black and Tan(I'm black, he's tan) Mobella). We started playing together as a duo. We would perform in between our good friend Clark Jenkins'(Big Whiskey) set breaks at The Pavilion. We knew that the praise we received from the masses, especially unrehearsed, and the elation we felt from playing music with each other was a blessing. Billing ourselves as "Austin and James", ( A.K.A"Black n' Tan") we went on to play live over the next three years, and currently continue to play together. I love "loving music." It is my fire, my soul, my prowess, my vision, my moxie....it is my best friend. I realize I have only just begun, and I still desire to seek new knowledge of music any way I can obtain it.