Conversations with Robert Abernathy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Abernathy.

Hi Robert, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My career began in the early 90s with a vocal group called the Vocal Boyz. We were a group of 5 guys who performed original and traditional Contemporary Christian music.

In 1995, we entered the Nashville Starbound Competition at the Grand Ole Opry House and won 1st place with an acapella version of “I’ll Fly Away”. It was an incredible honor. We disbanded in 1996 with college schedules and family priorities that limited our ability to continue traveling the country.

It was one of the most memorable times of our lives. Soon thereafter, I graduated from Jacksonville State University and began my career in education as a teacher and coach.

It was during this time that I put the guitar down for the most part as a performer. However, on the side, I opened up a small home recording studio and began working on my craft as a songwriter. It was a small demo studio and lasted for about 4 years. From 2000 to 2009, I focused on my career as a teacher and coach. I spent countless hours with young students and athletes which didn’t allow for much time at all to write or perform.

In 2009, a friend of mine, Mike Tucker who taught in the classroom besides me urged me to look into dusting off the guitar and play a few open mics around town. I took his advice. Within a few months, I was auditioning for bands and landed my first performance gig in over 10 years as the frontman for a band called “Shotglass”. We were a country and classic rock band and we’re playing a few shows per month. After a show one night, a bar owner pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to play some solo shows–to which I agreed.

This opened up an entirely new realm of possibilities for me that I never knew could exist. In 2010, I began writing my own songs and performing solo shows around the Birmingham area. I landed weekly residency shows at multiple locations around the area and began to realize that this was something I could sustain and make a small income while doing something I loved.

As a teacher and coach, this was time-consuming. By this time, I was the head wrestling coach at Simmons Middle School and felt the strain of coaching while holding down 2-3 regular solo shows per week. in 2015 I hung up my whistle as a coach and began to focus on writing and performing multiple shows each week. The next year, I became Gigmaster’s #1 Country Artist in the US. I was the global booking agency’s most profitable Country Artist. Since then, I consecutively held this honor each year for the past 7 years playing mostly private events.

In 2017, I wrote, recorded, and co-produced my very first full album, “Sticks and Stones”. with Daniel Dennis at Primecut Recording in Nashville. It was a collection of songs I had pieced together that told the story of the past 10 years of my life that included a number of ups and downs up to that point. It was also during this time, I began piecing together my own band with Huntsville Guitarist Jonathan Laird, Bass player Corbin Camp and drummer, Craig Pruett. We began playing shows all over Alabama and developed our own unique sound full of country themes with classic rock and original music.

In 2018, I was nominated for Alabama Country Artist of the Year. My band and I performed at the Awards Show and at the end of the night was honored to receive the award. The next several years I was nominated for multiple other awards:

• 2019 International Acoustic Awards Male Artist of the Year Finalist
• 2020 International Singer-Songwriter Assoc Male Rising Star Finalist
• 2020 International Singer-Songwriter Assoc Duo of the year Finalist (with Craig Pruett)
• 2021 USA ISSA- Male Vocalist of the Year Finalist
• 2021 USA ISSA-Male Rising Star Finalist

During that span, I released 3 other full albums, 2 EPs, and wrote/co-wrote over 300 songs. There are over 50 of them available now on all digital music platforms.

In 2020, a friend of mine, Chuck Rackley, (the bass player for a band called “Who Shot Lizzy”) began discussing the possibility of starting an Eagles Tribute Band. We pieced together some of the best musicians in the area and formed “Eagle Sunrise: Band”. We have played arenas, festivals, and concert halls all over the south. In late 2021, we added an Alabama tribute Show, called “Alabama Delight”. We are still playing shows to this day.

In 2021, I received an unexpected phone call to offer me my first residency on Broadway in Downtown Nashville at Tin Roof Broadway. It was a 3 1/2 hour show each Tuesday to play my own show filled with my favorite tunes as well as my own songs. The problem was, I was still a 7th-grade science teacher. By this time, I was in my 24th year as a teacher and was at a point in my teaching career where retirement was only a year away. The dilemma was whether or not I should leave my class each Tuesday to pursue a lifelong dream of playing on Broadway or to turn the opportunity down. After discussion with school leaders, I took the opportunity to pursue a dream.

So here I am now. My last year as a teacher. The end of 25 great years as a teacher and a coach surrounded with some of the best teachers each day along with some of the best kids in the world. I love what I do. I love teaching and nothing makes me smile more than to see a kid’s face light up within the doors of my school.

But after discussion with my wife and kids, we have come to the conclusion that it’s now or never. At the age of 48, I will be retiring as a teacher and dipping my feet into the waters of writing and co-writing in Nashville with some of the best while playing shows in a city that has always been out of reach until now. I am continuing my residency at Tin Roof and am excited for what the future holds for this old fella.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggles were part of the success. In 2009 my wife and I divorced. It was a very difficult time. We both remarried and over time each of those marriages dissolved. Somehow, we managed to piece it back together.

Since 2013, Augusta has been a supportive part of a music career that didn’t exist at all when we were married years earlier. Had we not gotten divorced in 2009, I never would have stepped out and started playing shows and writing songs. She has been the inspiration of the heartbreak songs as well as some of my most heartfelt love songs.

Now, here we are balancing 5 kids, 7 pets, teaching and coaching career, 3 bands, a solo and duo show (with Nick Williams) which all add up to close to 175 shows per year. Oh. And a Goldendoodle Breeding business.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
There are a few things that I take pride in at my age. I am proud that I never gave up on my dream. Here I am, 25 years into a teaching career, and I feel like my life is just beginning as I venture into the unknown Nashville music circle. I am proud that I wrote my first song in 1991 and here I am all these years later still writing songs that people can relate to.

I have been rewarded with connections that people have made with my songs and not the monetary value that may or may not come with it. I am proud that people come and sit in a booth or table and listen to me belt out songs that they love, only to come back to the next show and hear them again. I am proud that the relationships I have made as a performer have cemented my definition of success, not selling a million records or collecting thousands of TikTok followers.

I am truly living out my dream at the age of 48. I used to feel like I should have pursued a music career instead of becoming a teacher, but to be honest, I wouldn’t be where I am without the relationships I have made along the way as a teacher by day and performer by night. The timing couldn’t be any more perfect.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.robertabernathy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabernathy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rabernathy2013
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/rabernathy41
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/alabamarolltide1973
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/robertabernathy
• Other: https://www.reverbnation.com/robertabernathy