Austin West is more commonly known as “The Guitar Soldier”, a YouTube channel dedicated to the guitar talents of US Army Band Member Austin West.

Austin has been uploading videos of himself playing awesome rock solos to his YouTube channel since December 2014. Recently, following the death of legendary musician Eddie Van Halen, The Guitar Soldier made an epic tribute to Eddie playing in full army uniform. The video was a hit across social media, generating more than 1.5 million views in a matter of days on Facebook. You can watch the video of Austin performing below.

At the time of this video being recorded, Austin is a recruiter for the US Army based in Watertown, N.Y. The talented guitarist will most likely be shipped out soon to perform as a member of the US Army Band. His powerful tribute to Eddie Van Halen has been picked up by major music reporters including Starts And Stripes who wrote an article on the video.