Performing Songwriter Magazine- DIY Top 12

Abbie Gardner
Honey on My Grave
DIY Top 12 Picks: September/October 2006

The twang of a Dobro is your first indication that Abbie Gardner is not your typical New York–based folksinger. Leaning heavily on bluegrass sounds and instruments, Gardner yodels and mourns with the best of them. She’s a former John Lennon Songwriting Contest winner, and her craft and skill are evident throughout the record. In the title track she advises, “Sister don’t you mourn me, from heaven I will wave / I don’t need no wailing wall if I get honey on my grave.” In “I’m a Fool” she laments waiting for “something we had to turn from love into sadness,” as acoustic and slide guitars dance a slow, country waltz.
An ode to chocolate-covered coffee beans (“Caffeine”) and a well-placed cover of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” lighten the mood without breaking the spell that Gardner’s mixture of New York smarts and Appalachian sounds will surely cast over you.

-by Mare Wakefield