Everybody has seen the acapella videos produced by an extremely cool new app. It basically replaced Vine for uprising singers. And for people just to goof around. One kid stands out from the crowd of consumers. That would be Austin Jones. All of his acapella videos have gone viral! But who is he? He's way more than a singer on an app and another teen heartthrob.
Austin is a 23 year old from Chicago. His musical styling ranges from Alternative to pop. Of course he has mastered acoustic and acapella music. Austin is definitely a musical king when it comes to social media. He has managed to gather 528,400 likes on his Facebook page, which for a fairly unknown artists to the public is pretty good. His Youtube channel has rapidly expanded since he first started it in July of 2007. As of right now he has over 117,295 subscribers and, as of today, 3,551,894 total views. His Vine following is roughly around 248,000.
Austin started his musical journey in 2010. He began writing his own music that year after "tragic events". He didn't go much deeper than that as far as I know. Honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad that he started in the first place! Austin released his first EP, "We'll Fall Together", in July 2014. The EP went to #12 on the iTunes charts and hit #34 on Billboard's Heat Seekers Chart. Not only did he have a very successful debut EP, he also had rather successful singles. He's released "Love Yourself (acoustic), Meds and Beds, and Fly Away. All of the above are available for download on iTunes.
Since Austin had gained such a big following in such short amount of time, Alternative Press invited him to join their 2015 Warped Tour. With this opportunity, Austin was able to expand his fan base and work along side big name artists. Some of those names included a few of my favorites: Black Veil Brides, Pierce the Veil, AS IT IS, Metro Station, and Our Last Night. Of course there were many other names. Those were just a few of my favorites.
However, Austin didn't walk away from Warped with all positives. Austin was caught up in the middle of a scandal. While touring he was accused of asking underage girls for videos of them twerking. When the rumors started, Warped was forced to take him out of the line up along with other social media sensations. He didn't deny the rumors long. Instead he released an apology. Austin immediately apologized for asking for the inappropriate videos. He also pointed out the fact that he was unaware that some of the people he was talking to were underage. Apparently he sent silly videos of him twerking back. He wasn't taking them very seriously. It was fun and games. He apologized for his actions and said that he was embarrassed for his family, friends, himself, and his fans.
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| Austin's "I Write Sins not Tragedies" cover |
I believe the incident has long been forgotten. Warped Tour said that he had done nothing wrong and had taken responsibility for his actions. They weren't ashamed to have him on their line-up and would be happy to have him again. Since then Austin has regained a lot of his fans and fame with the help of the acapella app. His most popular videos are covers of Fall Out Boy, Panic!, and even Sleeping with Sirens. Austin has true talent. He has made some mistakes, but unlike many other stars, he took responsibility. There is no doubt that he is the King of the Acapella App.
Why do terrible, terrible things happen to the best people?
In 2013 the band released "Daisies" which ended up being featured on The Indie Cassette's 2nd album. "Love my Love" was on the websites 3rd volume. Perhaps their biggest hit, "Swings and Water slides", was self-financed and released under their own label Fuller Beans. It was added to BBC Radio 1's playlist in September 2015. The group was supported by BBC Introducing for rising artists. They played BBC's stage at 2015's Reading and Leads festivals. They were also able to record live sessions with BBC in November 2015. In 2016 they released two singles, "Boys that Sing" and "Like a Fool", under a new label called Communion. They were released on January 22. This was the last thing the band was ever able to release.
All four members of the band and their manager Craig Tarry were killed in an unimaginable car accident on February 13th. Kris was 20. Jack and River were 19. Tomas was the oldest member of the band at 27. Their manager was 33. The band was driving back from their first international gig. The accident happened on a bridge near Stockholm. A part of the bridge was being lifted to let an oil tanker pass underneath. Their black Nissan crashed through barriers and signs to plunge 80ft in to subzero water. To make matters worse, the oil tanker saw the car fall in to the water. The crew thought it was just a large chuck of snow, so they ran over the wreckage.
The accident happened around 2 am. The police were notified by witnesses around 2:15. Some articles claim that the band sat in the water for an hour while others say that the first body was found in the water at 2:38. 3 bodies apparently remained in the car. No other information has really been released. Police are investigating why the accident happened. So far they have found nothing. Craig Terry was driving. It is possible that he had been under the influence, but there is no way to prove that as fact.
I'd only heard of Viola Beach because of this tragic accident. I wish that I had found them earlier. They were an amazing band. I don't know much about their personality, but judging by the things said by friends and family, they were great people. They were definitely going places. It's sad to see that their lives ended so tragically and their dream ended so early. On the bright side, they died doing what they loved. Please share their music. They are an outstanding band in every aspect. Their music should never die. RIP Kris, River, Tomas, Jack, and Craig!
