We had the opportunity to interview Canadian country artists James & Josh Abrams of The Abrams after their set at Boots & Hearts. The brothers talk about the festival, their new songs, being fourth generation musicians and finding that sweet spot between old and new, playing the Grand ole Opry, country fans and more!
Biography
These days, a lot of what we experience has been carefully curated, filtered and targeted. It seems we’ve become desensitized by it, especially where every little social interaction and every mundane object is glossed up to look #instagood.
But when The Abrams play live, what you see is what you get.
Still in their 20s, they have the hard-earned ability of seasoned touring veterans. They perform with an explosive energy, honed over two decades of experience in front of audiences around the world. Their live show is the kind that can’t be whipped up over a few weeks in a rehearsal space. The Abrams make honest music. The country duo from Kingston, Ontario, are something of an anomaly, having performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and embarked on repeated tours across multiple continents. With their acceptance of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin award in 2006, They were recognized as ambassadors for peace in the Middle East through music. All of this took place before they reached legal driving age.
Their 18-year touring career has had a significant influence on their songwriting, which continues to have a lasting emotional impact with their fans across cultural divides, whether they are playing in a community hall in Texas, or at a world music festival in Israel. John and James’s most recent songs speak about experiences of love and loss, through good times and tough times, partly drawn from their long-term relationships with their wife and girlfriend respectively, who support them through the successes and difficulties that come with a touring lifestyle.
As many are aware by now, The Abrams are the 4th generation in a line of songwriters, performers and recording artists in their family, who instilled in them the ability to tell stories that speak to the hearts of their fans. The result is a new album of songs that are both deeply personal, and widely relatable, led by the first single Sounds Good To Me, produced by Matt Rovey (Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson). “Sounds Good To Me is all about the little things. The real and honest things. The simple moments in life that end up being everything we live for, especially with the people we love.”
While John and James have gone through many different stages of their career, two things have always been true: their deep and intrinsic love of country music, and the fact that they cannot remember life before they started making country music. It has simply always been there, and they have always been doing it.
Knowing what they can accomplish in the studio, and how to translate that to the stage, The Abrams have taken their place alongside Canada’s best-known country music stars. To put it plainly, The Abrams are as authentic as it gets. There is nothing to hide here. No tricks. No gimmicks. No smoke and mirrors. No filters.
The Abrams just make good honest music.
To find more of The Abrams music visit https://www.theabramsmusic.com/
