TEACHER BY DAY, MUSICIAN
BY NIGHT, AUSTIN BISHOP IS
AN UP-AND-COMING COUNTRY
MUSIC TALENT.
Bishop, 25, teaches special education at
C.A. Donnehoo Elementary in Gadsden and
plays up to three or four shows a week. The
Borden Springs native has been singing
since he was six years old and picked
up guitar in college. Bishop attended
Jacksonville State University on a football
scholarship for two years before transferring
to the University of West Alabama in
Livingston where he completed his degree
in December 2018.
Bishop released his debut EP, That’s What
Made Us, with 3rd Lion Productions, of
Nashville, in April 2019. His single “Till The
Day That I Die” followed close behind, and
Bishop says he has more new music in the
works. “I’m hopefully going to be putting
out another EP within the next probably
two months,” Bishop explains. “No later than
November, I hope, but it’s in the works.”
Bishop was raised by his grandparents and
says he and his grandmomma have always
sang together in the car. “We’d sing Gaither
Gospel songs and church hymns,” he recalls.
“She loves to sing. Elvis, Patsy Cline and
stuff like that… She loves it. She comes to
as many shows as she can. She’s a big fan.”
Bishop gained a few pint-sized fans last
spring when he put on a show for the
children and teachers at the school where
he works. “It’s funny, I think the teachers
liked it more than the kids because I don’t
think the kids knew most of my songs… I
played for about 10 or 15 minutes and had
INSIGHT
my fun, and then I played music [the kids]
wanted to hear and they ate it up.”
When it comes to his original music, Bishop
says he like to sing about his own personal
experiences. “I’ve never had money, and
I don’t want to sing about having a big
jacked up truck - which is fine for those that
do - but that’s just not who I am and that’s
just not what I’m going to sing about.”
“Well I grew up in a little run down
two line town
where everybody said they’d do their
best to make it out
and we’d leave it all behind us in a
cloud of dust
with nothing but the memories of
where we came from”
- lyrics from “That’s What Made Us”
by Austin Bishop
October 2019 7