Austin Snell

Let’s just be real … sometimes country dresses up the past. But for Warner Music Nashville/River House Artists rising star Austin Snell, rose-colored glasses have never been part of the wardrobe.

Known for pushing the country envelope with a ferocious injection of sonic fury, Snell is no stranger to raw honesty, and his new EP Home Sweet Hell reveals another harsh reality. Far from romanticizing the good-old days, he shares an upbringing steeped in hard lessons, hard living, and hard rock; a familiar truth which nevertheless came with plenty to be proud of. It’s the follow-up to his 2024 album debut Still Bleeding – more powerful (and more brutal) than before. But as the singer-songwriter matures, the intensity is now in his introspection.

“The whole essence of Home Sweet Hell is the idea that things aren’t always what they seem,” Snell explains. “My career is a constant search for what makes me feel the way I felt when I first started writing music – and the edginess is not going anywhere, but I’m definitely doing some experimenting. I’m invested in my songwriting, and I want that to shine through.”

Born in Georgia and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Snell was raised on everything from Alan Jackson to Nirvana and Nickelback, a contrast which constantly shows in his original “grunge country” style. Fusing hard-hitting aggression with the deep-feeling confessions of a country troubadour, he’s spent the last two years turning social-media stardom into brash-and-broken hits like “Excuse the Mess” and “Pray All the Way Home,” racking up 383 million global career streams and a fanatical fanbase, which will put him on the road for more than 120 dates in 2025 – Home Sweet Hell headline tour included.

From cultural institutions like the Grand Ole Opry (where he recently invited fellow riser Hudson Westbrook to make his Opry debut) to major festivals like CMA Fest, Stagecoach, Summerfest, and more, Snell’s been lighting crowds on fire and earning respect for his blazing vocal rasp. But with Home Sweet Hell he fights nostalgia to find the truth, and pulls no punches along the way.

“I’m diving into my past and the tough things I experienced,” he admits. “It’s just being a little more vulnerable in my songwriting, which I’m thoroughly enjoying.”

With a baseline mix of tender toughness, it’s a project driven by the title track, “Home Sweet Hell,” as Snell stays true to country’s core ideals. Born from a return to his tiny South Georgia hometown, years after his last visit, the tunesmith found himself giving his girlfriend the grand tour – single stop light and sleepy Main Street included. But when they arrived in the driveway of his childhood home, her description of the “beautiful” house struck a nerve. … Looks can be deceiving.

“I was like, if you only knew what happened inside, it would be a different story,” he explains. “There’s a whole different side to things most people never see, and that’s what I’m trying to tap into.”

Co-penned in true method-writing style at a smoke-stained airport Motel 6, Snell teamed up with Nicolette Hayford, Kenny Whitmire, Riley Thomas, and producer Andrew Baylis for the track – a slow-burning country-rock ballad which rips inner turmoil from outward perfection. Led by the cold cruelty of an echo-laden electric guitar, and with Snell’s blowtorch vocal toned down to a simmering smolder, it guides a seven-track EP (featuring six co-writes) to the crossroads of garage-rocking grit and country grace, as Snell confronts his demons.

Elsewhere, vicious distortion and pounding drums capture the clenched fists of a battle with toxic romance in “I Mean It,” while “Miles” and its new-to-Snell R&B groove becomes the soundtrack to new love’s promise. He looks outside his own writing with the raging punk pop of “Heavy Metal” – a pseudo-truck anthem carrying the weight of a bad breakup. And with the twang-metal banger “Drunk,” Snell blows off some much-needed steam, with middle fingers firmly in the air.

But it’s back on tracks like “Family Tree” where he touches the root of his music’s torrential torment. A self-examining, soul-baring ballad with a dusky acoustic sway, Snell walks deep into his own tangled past – not to find blame for his mistakes, but to grow beyond them.

“There’s a story behind every decision,” he says. “It dates back to a long, long line of people living in a certain way, and it would be so easy for me to blame my dad or his dad for my life now and the way I act. But I’ve grown a lot over the last couple of years.

“I try to be realistic, and say the things people aren’t saying,” he goes on. “That’s the part of country music I love the most.”

It’s a tough love, no doubt, much like the life Snell sings about in Home Sweet Hell – and with the hard-charging “Stuck In the Sticks,” he shows the pride it builds. A dobro-and-distortion anthem with gospel BGVs and thick, thundering drums, he tributes a life that is never flashy and doesn’t do regret, but is always honest. Snell has no time for anything else.

“You can go through some super hard times in life and still be proud of it on the other side,” he explains. “All of it just makes you who you are, and that’s the essence of this EP. It speaks to what’s coming in the future, for sure.”