By Linden Wilson
How one Southlake musician's raw talent willbrmake her a superstar
Abby Anderson's fingers are dancing so fast across the pianobrkeys that they create an energetic blur. Her long, wavy, chestnut brown hair isbrcascading over her shoulders, moving to the rhythm of the song as she sways tobrthe beat. “I bet my heart, and the joker won,” she belts out, her soulful voicebrso powerful that it echoes throughout her living room. The sound is reminiscentbrof Trisha Yearwood or Lee Ann Womack, known for their ability to power throughbremotional ballads using their voice as the main instrument. As she finishes thebrsong, Abby pauses, then raises her shoulders, smiles a big, ear-to-ear grin andbrlets out an animated laugh. Listening to her perform, it is easy to forget thatbrthis talented musician is still a 17-year-old girl who has only just begun to leavebrher mark on the world.
The secondbrof seven children, of which the elder six are girls, Abby has had a passion forbrsinging since she was a child growing up in Southlake. “Really, what I likedbrwas the performing part — being in front of people,” she says. At 5, shebrstarted taking classical piano lessons, and at 8, she saw one of her favoritebrsingers, Norah Jones, in concert while she was on tour promoting Feels Like Home. Abby also grew upbrlistening to Ray Charles, Leann Rimes, Garth Brooks and Elvis (“I am thebrweirdest Elvis fanatic, but I just love him. I love jazzy blues”). At 15, shebrreceived the opportunity of a lifetime when she was asked to perform on stagebrat Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium — where names like Elvis and JohnnybrCash have played before her. Her performance was part of a benefit concert forbrthe Smiles for Life Foundation, which her father, Steven, co-founded.
“It was mybrvery first live performance ever,” recalls Abby, who played the piano and sangbr“He Stopped Loving Me” by George Jones. “I was put out there, but I was totallybrokay with it. It was so cool.”
While atbrthe Ryman, Abby met Buddy Owens, an award-winning American country music singerbrbased in Nashville. He immediately recognized Abby's raw talent, humblebrattitude and passion for music. The two became fast friends and started writingbra song that could serve as Abby's debut to the public. This past January, “HebrLoves Me” was released on iTunes. The catchy, upbeat track describes a youngbrgirl picking daisy petals, wondering if the boy she likes loves her back. “Althoughbrthe sun is shining/and the summer sky is blue/the pain of a crush I'm hiding/isbrfinally coming through,” Abby croons in one of the song's verses.
“I always jokebrwith him that it took a 35-year-old man to bring out the girly side of mebrbecause my single is such a chick flick song,” she laughs, admitting a lot of herbrsongwriting inspiration doesn't come from her own love life but from her olderbrsister, Ashlin's. “She's in college, and she calls me every now and thenbrtalking about boys.” Sometimes, Abby reads through past journal entries or revertsbrto events from her family's history when searching for inspiration. Other times,brit's pure make believe.
When herbrcareer started to take off a little more than a year ago, Abby's parents pulledbrher out of Southlake Carroll for homeschooling — but her schedule isn't anybrless strict than it was before.
“My daybrstarts at 5:30 a.m. with a scripture study class at my church in Colleyville,”brshe says. “I do that for an hour, then come home and get ready for the day. Frombr8 a.m. to 2 p.m., it's straight schoolwork, but the beauty of it is that Ibrdon't have any homework. From 2 to 4, it's classical piano practice. Then I gobrto the gym, come back for dinner, and from 6 to 8, I do a lot of writing andbrcomposing.”
Abby'sbrpiano teacher, Mike Springer, is a North Texas-based instructor with more thanbr25 years of experience who comes to her house to give her lessons. “He'sbramazing,” she says. “Words can't explain the knowledge he has.” She records herbrmusic at Denton's The Panhandle House, a studio owned by producer Erik Herbst. “He's a greatbrguy who has helped me develop my sound. I couldn't be luckier to have him.”
To date,brAbby has recorded seven songs out of more than 25 she has written. “NeverbrAgain,” about a young girl abused by her father, is loosely based on someonebrAbby knows and conveys a poignant message similar to Garth Brooks' 1990 hit, “ThebrThunder Rolls.” At the end of this month, “Daddy He Loves Me” will be releasedbrin honor of Father's Day. The tune, which tells the story of a girl who knowsbrshe has found the right man for her because of her father's example, is basedbron Abby's own relationship with her dad.
When she'sbrnot writing or recording, Abby loves strumming on her Taylor guitar — a recentbrChristmas present — and performing anywhere she can, whether it's a gig atbrSpoons Café in McKinney, the Majestic Theatre or even a children's hospital.
“At CookbrChildren's in Fort Worth, they have a top-notch recording studio for the kidsbrcalled the Child Life Zone,” Abby says. “They call it the happiest place in thebrhospital. No nurses and no needles are allowed inside — these kids can just gobrin there and be kids. I've put on little concerts for them. Volunteering is mybrfavorite.”
Abby'sbrmodest outlook and solid family values will certainly take her far (“I have abrreally great family life — we're all really close and tell one anotherbreverything”), but it's her voice that will make everyone take notice. Last month, Abby was asked to open for eitherbrMiranda Lambert or Blake Shelton at a large veterans benefit concert in WichitabrFalls, and famed music label Capitol Records has already reached out tobrthe talented teenager.
“I’mbrreally lucky that they would even notice me,” she says. “I’m not sure what’sbrgoing to happen. Right now, I’m 17, just playing all the gigs I can, writing asbrmuch as I can. I want to get a local following going, as big as I can. I justbrlove sharing my music with everyone.”