It was destiny for fourteen year old rising star from Houston, Texas, Abby Gough, to write and record a song for one of her biggest influences, country music legend Merle Haggard. “My father is a huge Haggard fan so I grew up listening to Merle Haggard and by the time I was eight years old, I knew every word to every Haggard song.” Laughing, Abby says “Not too many of my friends even knew who he was.” “Me & Merle” is just one of seven original songs on Abby’s first cd released March 31, 2012.
When Abby appeared on a CBS affiliate station, Khou-Channel 11 Houston, The Debra Duncan Show for the first time in October of 2011, she described her own music as an acoustic country sound with a little outlaw country. Abby describes her music as “a mix of good traditional country music with a progressive sound”. “I still love the old classics and have even included a couple of them on my new CD. I gave my sound to two old classics: “Sweet Dreams” by Patsy Cline and “Empty Glass” by Gary Stewart.”
With the help of her two producers, Keith McCoy and Brian Thomas, Abby recorded her first CD at Astra Studios in Channelview, Texas. “My first time in the studio, I think I shocked everyone. Having written the lyrics and music to my own songs, I knew exactly what I wanted. They expected me to be at least a little intimidated, my first time in a studio”.
Abby started to sing when she was just 8 years old in her church. Since that time, she has performed on stage at many different local venues. Abby’s father and grandfather, both musicians and singers, have had a great influence on her life. “I watched them sing and play guitar as long as I can remember which is where my deep roots and great love for country music come from.” She picked up a guitar when she was eleven years old and taught herself to play. Abby began songwriting when she was only thirteen years old and finished her first CD at fourteen years old. "I have been performing for so long now that I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t. This is my dream! No matter how long I perform I will continue to work hard and further develop the skills I need to be an all-around successful artist."
Abby, now fifteen, continues to perform and awe audiences all over. “I still sing at local opry’s. I believe in the opry’s because they are nonprofit organizations who sole purpose is for the preservation of country music. I also continue to sing at a local community center with my dad and grandfather which we have been doing once a month for several years. I love to entertain.” Abby also appeared again in March, 2012 on the Debra Duncan show to promote her new CD. “I am excited about my new CD. I have confidence in the original songs of which I wrote the words and lyrics to seven of them and co-wrote another.”
Abby looks forward to performing on bigger stages and entertaining bigger audiences. “There are certain stages I look at and dream of performing on one day.” Abby has an upcoming concert locally to promote the release of her new CD “Southern Fire Angel”. She looks forward to following up the release with a trip to Nashville to further promote it. “I am fortunate to be homeschooled which allows me a little more freedom to pursue my dreams. My dreams are big but I believe in them and that they will come true.”