If country-rock has a raw, unfiltered heartbeat right now, it’s beating straight out of Georgia native Austin Snell. Armed with a distortion-heavy guitar, a raspy vocal that sounds like gravel wrapped in velvet, and a pen that hits like an exposed nerve, the 28-year-old Air Force veteran has been carving out his own gritty lane in Nashville. Now, the “grunge-country” rising renegade is taking that momentum back on the road.
Today (August 12), Snell officially announced his 12-date headlining Colors Tour, kicking off October 22 in Grand Rapids, MI. The autumn run will hit major music hubs including Chicago, Toronto, and Washington, D.C., before wrapping up in Lexington, KY.
“In the past, it’s been super high energy with the rock songs. I love playing them live, and that’s part of the reason why I love the rock sound—the live show is so cool,” Snell told Celeb Secrets backstage at CMA Fest 2026 in June. “But I want to make it feel a little more cinematic. Do a little bit more of the ups and downs and kind of ride that wave in the show… adding a little more depth to the show is what I would say we’re doing.”
He added with a grin: “We’re still playing the rock stuff — it’s not going anywhere — but we’re saving a lot of the new stuff for tour. We’re going to remake the entire show for later this year.”
The tour announcement comes on the heels of Snell’s deeply reflective EP, Colors, which dropped on May 1 via River House Artists / Warner Records Nashville. Intentionally released at the start of Mental Health Awareness Month, the seven-song collection strips back the heavy wall-of-sound production to showcase Snell’s first true love: raw storytelling.
“This EP is what ‘healing’ sounds like for me,” Snell shared around the release. “It’s taking what I used to be ashamed of and making it a part of my identity. It’s growing up and watching an unhealthy love story, making some of those same mistakes, and not liking that version of myself—then it’s finding a love that I don’t want to lose.”
For Snell, leaning into vulnerability wasn’t just a stylistic choice; it was a necessary evolution as an artist.
“I just wanted a project that kind of shined on the songwriting,” Snell revealed to Celeb Secrets. “Songwriting was my first love and passion. I didn’t know if I was going to be an artist when I moved to town—I thought I was just going to write songs. As a true creative, I want to continue to push myself and try new things. I get bored pretty easily doing the same thing over and over again.”
That artistic push meant tackling topics he used to keep hidden, like on the track “Daddy’s Eyes,” which digs into generational cycles and household struggles.
“It was challenging, but in a productive way,” Snell admitted to us. “Hearing the fans’ stories is always the coolest part. It makes me feel included, and it makes other people feel included as well. There are a lot of people out there who think they’re the only ones going through a certain thing. If I was a fan and my favorite artist put out a song about something I was going through, it’d make me feel a lot better about it.”
At the heart of the project sits the title track, “Colors”— a song written as a love letter to his long-time partner, Ally. But Snell didn’t just film a standard music video for the single; he turned the shoot at Nashville’s Scarritt Bennett Center into an unforgettable memory by dropping to one knee for real.
So, how did he pull off secret proposal logistics right in front of a full camera crew? With a lot of sweat and a massive stroke of luck.
“It was nerve-wracking, to say the least,” Snell laughed while recalling the moment to Celeb Secrets. “I tried to get the ring for the video and didn’t think I was going to get it. The lady told me it wasn’t going to be here in time, so I chalked it up to just not happening. Then she called me like a week before the video and went, ‘Hey, I don’t know why the ring got here, but it got here.’ I went and picked it up, and I was nervous the entire day. More nervous than I’ve ever been in my entire life!”
Adding eight production cameras to an already high-stakes moment didn’t make keeping his cool any easier.
“Every guy has their little speech planned when they get down on one knee. I had mine, but you add eight cameras in front of you too! I got down, got about three words out, got choked up, stuttered a bit, and then just asked her to marry me. Thank God she said yes!”
Now, amidst preparing for a major fall headline run and writing new material, the newly engaged couple is diving headfirst into wedding planning.
“Planning a wedding is pretty stressful. It’s expensive, and we know a lot of people, so we’re trying to get all that figured out,” Snell admitted. “We’re actually trying to do it this year. How are we going to do that with all the shows? No idea. We’re just trying to enjoy every second we have with each other and figure it out as we go.”
Despite accumulating nearly half a billion global streams, stepping into the circle at the Grand Ole Opry, and sharing stages with giants like Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, and Warren Zeiders, Snell remains refreshingly grounded.
For more on Austin Snell and his upcoming music and tour, make sure to watch our full interview below — and don’t forget to let us know if you’re loving the Colors EP by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
Interview quotes have been edited and condensed for clarity. For more Country news, visit CelebSecretsCountry.com. For more on CMA Fest 2026, click here.
