Sunday Conversation: Life in Music City agrees with Austin Mullins

(Note: Austin Mullins was a superb all-around athlete at C.M. Russell High and went on to have a fine football career for the Montana Grizzlies. Also an excellent student, he earned an MBA at Montana after earning a music degree as an undergraduate. Austin now lives and works in the music industry in Nashville, Tenn., but he was back in Montana this week for his sister Staley’s wedding. Scott Mansch caught up with him for our Sunday Conversation.)

Q: Howdy, Austin. It’s nice to talk to you.

A: You bet, Scott. It’s been a few years.

Q: Tell me what you’re doing these days.

A: I’ve been in Nashville for about eight years. I’m working at a talent agency called WME, which stands for William Morris Endeavor, in their country music department. It’s a crazy trek when you get into their system, because you start in the mailroom pushing a cart around and doing dishes after meetings. There’s a lot of steps and processes, but for the last four years I’ve been actively working as an agent.

Q: Wow. So you’re a talent scout?

A: Technically my title is ‘talent agent.’ On the music side it’s called ‘booking agent,’ because their main job is to book and route tours and concerts for our artists. We are a full-line agency, so we have TV department, film and theater departments. About three a half years ago we bought the PBR, the Professional Bull Riders, then about two years ago we bought UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), and about five years ago we bought IMG (International Management Group). So we’ve been on an acquisition spree and we’ve grown tremendously. It’s pretty cool to be a part of. I just moved there to work in country music (laughs) and now I’m part of a much bigger thing.

Q: So you provide concert acts for the PBR?

A: Well, we own the PBR. But just like other properties that we own, we’re not micromanaging them. The PBR already had a successful business model and is one of the fastest-growing sports internationally, not just in the U.S. That’s where we saw the opportunity. From there, whatever synergies we have and verticals we can provide that make sense for them we can help with. If you ever go to a PBR event, the theme song and intro videos are now all with Steven Tyler (Aerosmith lead singer), who is one of our clients. When they do their big events in Vegas or Nashville, we’ll have artists of ours singing the National Anthem or playing concerts outside before the events start. Things like that.

Q: So my buddy Flint Rasmussen (famed PBR clown) works for you, is that right Austin?

A: (Laughs) He does not work for me. I know Flint really well. Our families have been friends forever. His brother, Pete, and I have been friends for a long time. My mom (Heather) and uncles are friends with them. My grandfather was friends with Flint’s dad (Stan). We ranched out in Choteau forever.

Q: That’s great. So do you go to the Ryman Auditorium pretty regularly down there in Nashville?

A: Every once in a while. It’s a very popular venue. I like being able to go when I can enjoy a show, but a lot of times I’m there working. It is a great place.

Q: Is that the Grand Old Opry, Austin, or is the Ryman separate?

A: It’s separate. It was one of the first Grand Old Oprys. There were several incarnations of the Grand Old Opry from when it first started. It was like the second or third one. But now out on the far east side of town there’s a huge hotel and shopping mall called Opry Mills and the Grand Old Opry is there. It seats about twice as many people as you can get in the Ryman. They still do the radio show every day from there, though.

Q: So Austin, do you actually know people like Brooks and Dunn?

A: (Laughs) People always ask that. I guess it depends on how you define ‘knowing them.’ Acts like Brooks and Dunn are clients of ours and I’ve met them and said hello. But we’re not hanging out on the weekends by any means (laughs). I’m not quite high enough on the totem pole or been in it long enough to know any of the legendary folks.

Q: So you don’t live next to George Strait or anything (laughs)?

A: No. He lives in Texas (laughs). But no. You do see them around, though. The first time I saw Ronnie Dunn out in public he was at the Home Depot picking out paint (laughs).

Q: That’s pretty cool. You must really be enjoying your life these days.

A: Yes, yes. It’s a fun place to live. It’s changed a lot in the last eight years. It’s grown. Being a Montana kid I liked the small-town feel it had when I first moved there. But it’s fun. There’s actually quite a few Montana people here. I have a lot of friends that I either knew when I was growing up or have come to meet down here. We’ve got a good little contingent of us.

Q: Do you have a family there?

A: No, but I do have a girlfriend. And we’re doing good. She’s a Montana girl.

Q: That’s great. I’m sure you’re the only football superstar working for this outfit, is that true Austin?

A: (Laughs) There’s a guy in our office who played football at Vanderbilt. Actually the head of our Christian music department was a quarterback at Oregon State. Oddly enough, you run into quite a few athletes working here. But I certainly wouldn’t put myself at the superstar level (laughs).

Q: Well I would, Austin. I would. I saw a great story that my good friend Fritz Neighbor wrote about you during your senior year with the Griz. It talked about your family and its influence on your love of music. You come by your music background because of your father (Tom’s) influence, is that right?

A: Well, he helped mainly with the appreciation of it. All sides of my family were musical and loved music. My mom plays piano and my dad played guitar. He was the one who introduced me to all types of music and gave me the appreciation where you know who’s singing the songs and who wrote the songs that you listen to. History, things like that. That always intrigued me when I was younger and I ended up studying that in college. He was very instrumental in the whole thing, but I really had it coming from all sides. What really made it work was that I had a family that was very supportive. Even though I’d graduated and had a couple degrees from UM, they were supportive of me moving to a state where I’d never been. You know, when you start out working in the entertainment industry you’re not getting paid anything. (laughs) I was making more money bartending at the Missoula Club than I was when I started working in Nashville (laughs). So you’ve got to check your pride at the door. But it would have been a lot harder if I didn’t have a family that was behind me and supporting me on all sides. (Note: Austin’s father has passed away).

Q: Is your mother well and does she still live in Great Falls?

A: Yes. She’s retired from teaching, but she’s involved in a lot of community outreach things. She’s a Guardian at Litem for Cascade County Courts and does a lot of work with the Rescue Mission there in town. She’s got a couple of horses out at her place and that keeps her busy, too.

Q: That’s fantastic. So have you been sending country acts our way at the State Fair? Last year we had Midland here, and they were great.

A: (Laughs) You know, we book by territory and unfortunately Montana isn’t one of my states. But whenever I get a chance to talk to a State Fair rep where it might matter I definitely put my two cents in. Actually my 10-year high school reunion was at the same time as the fair in 2015. That was the year we had Thomas Rhett and Lee Brice and Dierks Bentley (at ExpoPark), and they are all clients of ours. So coincidentally I was able to say hi to them and act like I was getting some work done. But really I was having more fun just seeing all my friends from growing up (laughs).

Q: You sure played on some good football teams at CMR, didn’t you Austin?

A: Yes. We had some kids. What made it really fun is that for the most part we had played together since Salvation Army flag football. When you’re invested in it like that it just makes it more special.

Q: You were on the Rustler team that the championship in 2004 (with a 44-15 victory over Billings Skyview). That was the squad with Chase Gazzerro and Jeff Hansen, right?

A: Yes. I guess you could say Hansen was the best out of all of us. He had a few years there in the NFL. It was kind of nice because he was in Nashville a little bit with the Titans when I was living there. So we actually got to hang out a little bit.

Q: Matt Schoonover was your quarterback, wasn’t he? He’s being inducted into the Montana State Billings Hall of Fame here next month for baseball.

A: Yes. That’s good to hear, man. Overall we just had a bunch of great athletes on that football team at CMR.

Q: My pal Tony Forster was on that team, too, I think. He’s the manager of our American Legion baseball team now.

A: Tony. I really like Tony. He’s a year older, but he’s a good friend. When I came in as a freshman and played on the sophomore (football) team it was a little intimidating, but Tony was there and helped teach me a lot. I always appreciated everything Tony did for me.

Q: You were on state championship basketball teams, also, isn’t that true?

A: Yes. My junior year, in 2003-04, we won State. The seniors that year were (Ryan) Bagley and (Greg) Gysberg, Tony and Donnie (DeGooyer).

Q: I saw your Russell football coach, Jack Johnson, at the rodeo last week. I’m sure you’ll never forget playing for him.

A: Oh no. He was always very stern but always very fair. Jack always made a lot of sense. It was very simple: If you did your job and did it better than someone else, you got a shot to play. There were no politics or games. It was cut and dried. He let you go out and do your thing, and if you did it the way he asked you to you had a pretty good chance of winning.

Q: No kidding, Austin. What a great coach. When you got to the Grizzlies, I don’t know what happened. But if they’d let you play some tight end I think they’d really been winners. Right? (Note: He was a star tight end and middle linebacker in high school and wound up playing defensive line at UM)

A: (Laughs) It was interesting to hear different coaches talk about what they wanted me to do. Playing linebacker or tight end never seemed like it was in the cards for me.

Q: Well, you sure won a lot of games playing for Bobby Hauck.

A: Yes. We had some really good teams there. My junior and senior years we went to the national championship. In my four years there we only lost one conference game and the only nonconference game we lost was to Iowa. So we only had two regular-season losses in four years. But then we had four postseason losses.

Q: Do you think Bobby will turn the Grizzlies back into championship contenders?

A: I just think he needs a little time to get some of his kids in there. He’ll do a great job of recruiting the state of Montana, just getting the type of kids that he likes. We had some amazing athletes, obviously, but I think the main thing he recruited was physical and mental toughness. If you were a kid that couldn’t take someone critiquing you or couldn’t take the physical strain, you got weeded out. I think once he has the time to get the kids he wants, they’ll be all right. I’m not one of those super-fans who pays attention to signing day, but I do watch the games when I can.

Q: Did you have a chance to play pro football, Austin?

A: No. Not in the NFL or CFL. I had some European teams reaching out to me but I think that happens to just about everyone. To be honest, even if I had the aspiration to do it, I could have tried. But I didn’t even have a pro day or anything like that. It wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to follow my passions in music and get to work.

Q: Are you a musician yourself, Austin? A singer or songwriter?

A: Well, I mean I studied music starting the summer after fifth grade and studied it through college. My dad taught me guitar when I was younger and in college I learned how to play the piano. I’m musically inclined, but I’d never put myself up there and say I was a musician.

Q: What did some of the boys on the football team think when they found out you were playing the piano (laughs).

A: Honestly, when you get to college, if you want to go to a party and make some friends, being the guy who can play music is not a bad thing (laughs). It wasn’t a big deal ever. Even in high school, I was the kid who was in orchestra and jazz band but was also on the football and basketball team. Which is not too common. But I didn’t get picked on or bullied or anything (laughs).

Q: Of course not. Nobody was going to bully you. (laughs). Not as big and strong as you were.

A: You know, there were also guys I knew like Chad Swift or Jake Hieb, guys who were really into music. We had our own little sub-culture. It never was too odd. Sometimes it was when explaining it to coaches when they were asking why my class schedule was different than everybody else, and I was like, ‘It’s because I do music,’ and you could tell they’d just never run into that before (laughs).

Q: Well Austin, do you love Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline as much as I do? I mean, I can’t believe that you do (laughs).

A: Possibly. (laughs) I run the gamut of music that I love and listen to, but I definitely love some Patsy Cline and definitely love some Johnny Cash. But I run the gamut. Some things I really like would probably surprise you and I also like a lot of traditional music, too.

Q: It sure sounds like you’re enjoying your life these days, Austin. Do you hope to continue living there and where do you hope to go in the music business?

A: You know, I enjoy where I’m at and what I’m doing and I’m definitely going to see that through. I’m in my 30s and not in a rush to do anything. But if opportunities come knocking, whether in Nashville or somewhere else, I’m always going to look at it. I’m happy with what I’m doing and where I’m at.

Q: Great Falls is still your hometown and still has a special place in your heart, right?

A: Oh yes. It always will be. I’d never change that. I fly the Montana flag wherever I am. I’m not afraid to show off Griz colors or Montana colors or CMR colors. I’m always thankful that Great Falls is my home. It’s a great town to grow up in and I have great memories there, like you’re supposed to have from your hometown.

Q: It’s a pleasure to visit with you, Austin. Don’t ever change. I wish you and your family all the best.

A: Thank you, Scott. Don’t worry. I’m still a Montana boy driving my Dodge pickup. It’s great to catch up with you.

Scott Mansch’s Sunday Conversations appear frequently. He can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com