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| Austin (right) with folk group The Prodigal Sons - 1969 |
1. Beginnings
Austin was born in
March 1947 in Birdhill Co.Tipperary, Ireland. As a child he took lessons on the
violin but later started to focus on pop music. In the 60's he played
bass
with a local band, The Reno 5, before switching to the acoustic guitar and folk
music.
In 1970, influenced by the songs and guitar styles of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Gordon Lightfoot, Austin started to write his own songs. Playing the bar scene in the mid-west of Ireland in the early 70's, he served his time as a performer. In 1974 he won a prize in The American Song Contest with one of his first songs Crossover.