JOSH ABBOTT BAND

ARTIST SUMMARY

Genres: Country / Texas Red Dirt
Label: Indie
Management: Bruce Kalmick, Ambiance Artists, Ambiance Artists
Official Site: http://www.joshabbottband.com/home.php

ARTIST BIO

A mere 57 seconds into the opening track of the Josh Abbott Band's She's Like Texas, you're likely to be hooked. One intro, one verse and one chorus are pretty much all that's required to recognize something special in the Texas-based act. The winding riffs that open "Road Trippin" have a weighty Southern-rock air about them, though the actual instrumentation-fiddler Preston Wait and guitarist Gabe Hanson breeze through the lines in unison-hints faintly at the western-swing heritage deep in their Texas roots.

Bass player Daniel Almodova and drummer Edward Villanueva set a powerful, chugging rhythmic foundation that walks the line between commercial country and raw honky tonks. And Josh Abbott-the founder, lead singer and chief songwriter for the ensemble-evinces a slight Steve Earle character: breathy, fiery, intense. Those initial sounds set the tone for She's Like Texas, the sophomore album from the Lonestar State's best-kept secret. The project is deceptively simple in its approach, built around honest songs about real-life emotions with strong harmonies and winsome melodic hooks. But it's complex in its results.

There's a joyfulness in the sonic foundations of "All Of A Sudden," "Brushy Creek" and "If You're Leaving (I'm Coming Too)," an ease in the de-stressing "Hot Water," a philosophical bent in the folksy "End Of A Dirt Road" and a reflective sadness in the closing ballad "Let My Tears Be Still." There are so many emotions tied into the album that the listener is guaranteed to feel something. "The most important idea that I write songs with is that they're autobiographical," Abbott says. "Nearly every song I write is a true story of mine, or of someone I know."

Thanks for listening! - Bluesdaddy