"Abbie Gardner gives the grit to Red Molly with her Dobro playing. On her new solo CD we get to hear not only her instrumental and songwriting prowess, but her marvelously versatile voice, which can convey pain or playfulness or pure bad girl blues power." - John Platt, WFUV

Coming five years and three Red Molly albums after her last solo CD, Hope is Abbie Gardner's latest solo recording- set to be released on April 1, 2011. The CD features her versatile voice backed by 3 types of slide guitar (dobro, lap steel, and National bottleneck) and a band comprised of not only her father, Herb Gardner (piano), but also her sister, Sarah Gardner, on organ. Ben Wittman (the drummer on Red Molly's James) locks in with upright bassist Craig Akin, who is featured on the first instrumental Abbie has ever recorded (a bass and dobro duet). The songs range from heartache to hope, from gritty lap steel to singing cellos, courtesy of Emily Hope Price. Folk sweetheart Robby Hecht lends his voice to three tracks and fellow member of Red Molly, Laurie MacAllister, is heard throughout. Longtime friends and collaborators Fred Gillen, Jr. and Beaucoup Blue also lend their voices.

"I feel like the songs revolve around Hope, both the song and the idea. Rather than having all hopeful songs, this CD reflects the glimmer of hope we all look for when in the midst of darkness." - Abbie Gardner

Winter 2014

What a busy, but great year it’s been!  I’m sitting at Resosummit now in Nashville.  That’s Rob Ickes’s annual resonator conference/workshop that brings all my dobro buddies together to learn from some of the best teachers on earth.  We’ve got a few minutes before the final concert by the instructors…  feels like the end of summer camp!  It all goes by too fast!  But I’ve got a lot of great ideas to practice and get in my hands.

Speaking of getting stuff in my hands…  Paul Beard and I sat down to talk about my new instrument, too!  The one mostly paid for by the Iguana Music Fund (and from selling 3 other instruments!).  We picked out colors and talked about some experimenting with new ideas.   I won’t spill the beans yet, but it’ll be pretty exciting to have an instrument custom made for me!

Next I head to California for Red Molly’s last tour of the year- starting off at the legendary Great American Music Hall in San Francisco!  We also get to play Artcata, Eugene, Portland and Chico.  I’ll spend most of December practicing, writing, fixing up my new (very old) house, and gearing up for next year.  There are a few solo gigs in my future, as well.  One in December that is already sold out (sorry!) and then in February we bring back the SLIDE SESSIONS!!  Can hardly wait for that!  Not to mention the annual Groundhog’s Day Jam with my Pops.

Happy Winter!

Abbie

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