February 15, 2012

Josh Abbott Band ~ Live @ Big Texas


To see the “good karma boomerang” live and in person is a rare sight.  There are times something good happens to you and you wonder what good deed you bestowed upon someone to receive something in return?  To be in the presence of Josh Abbott, you see it unfold right in front of your eyes.  Josh is a relative newcomer to the Texas Country scene and has had about the most successful beginning as one can only hope to have with sold out shows and rabid fans everywhere he goes.  And the good karma he gives back to his loyal followers, putting on great show, being as down to earth and personable as possible, and even helping a desperate fan get in at the last moment when a show might be sold out.  We had a chance to sit down with Josh just before he hit the stage in early January and he was generous enough to give us his thoughts and ideas on where he came from and where he sees The Josh Abbott Band going from here.
LoneStar Outlaw: “As someone who takes pride in writing his own material and having it based on your life or someone close to you, does it get harder to do by being on the road so much and maybe not able to have those experiences anymore to write about?”
Josh Abbott: “It does get harder with every album and that’s part of the reason why this next album is going to feature songs written by other artists such as Adam Hood and Brian Keane as well as myself.  The more successful you become the more it becomes a business with meetings  and other obligations and that’s why I finally had to schedule time to write and treat it like a job.  It does become more daunting at times but it is still so overwhelmingly special to see a fan singing along to a song you wrote and know you’ve made a connection.”
LSO: “With the huge success of “She’s Like Texas”, do you feel pressure to live up to its awards and accolades or are you using that as a barometer to motivate you to even further success?”
JA: “I knew it was a great song personally and thought that it would be liked to the audience but had no idea things would take off the way they did.  I don’t feel the pressure to live up to that album’s success because I am always trying to better myself, my song writing, my stage show for the fans.  If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have this dream job.”
LSO: “A quote I came across from you is “to me, the value of the education is more important than the paper of the degree”.  Are you able to apply that same logic to your career and if so, how”
JA: “You know, the life lessons you learn on the road are priceless.  It’s equivalent to being in college and learning everything they teach you and then getting out into the real world and realizing things are much more different then what you expected.  I try to go about this business the right way; appreciating the fans, learning from my mistakes, and remembering what goes around comes around.  It’s been great to see the fan base grow as it is a representation of our growth in both gelling as a band and reaching a broader audience. The ends are more than the means, man.”
LSO: “I noticed you are always on Twitter and Facebook, how helpful do you think these social networks are to a bands growth”?
JA: “It’s extremely helpful.  It lets you get to be personal with people without being in their face.  It keeps you connected to what’s going on, what people want to see or hear, ways we might be able to improve our show.  Listening and interacting with the fans helps us keep a pulse to what’s going on in a way that we might miss. “
LSO:  “Lastly, we ask all the guys this but what is the one thing you can’t live without on the tour bus?”
JA: “X-Box, without a doubt”.


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