Maybe it’s the cold winters that lock people inside, balanced by true natural beauty to pull them out again, but Minnesota has born powerful songwriters including Bob Dylan and Prince. Austin Plaine’s musical poetry comes out of that bracing cold that embraces introspection. His songs have the rare ability to add meaningful and thought-provoking lyrics to tunes with the potential of 100 earworms.

Born in Fargo, ND and raised in Minnesota, Plaine’s music is seeded in storytelling. At age 13, Austin was intrigued to find a guitar that belonged to his grandfather in a family closet and, with the help of his cousin, he learned his first chords and dove straight into songwriting. Taking inspiration from artists like Dylan, Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, and Ryan Adams, Austin tells emotional, inspirational and personal stories about love, exploring the world and living life to the fullest. His raw, concise lyrics and beautiful melodies have proven to be a soundtrack to TV shows and commercials. Mastercard licensed his song “Beautiful” for a heartfelt ad at the end of 2014. The song was also featured in a key, uplifting moment in an episode of The Biggest Loser. 

After having great success licensing songs for commercials and TV shows, Austin is finally out with a self-titled release. He stopped by to chat with Folk Alley at the decidedly warmer 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida and recorded a few songs.