Abi
Photo credit: Camille Bostick Photography
I’ve been meaning to feature new r&b records on my blog for a little while. “All I’ve Got” by Abi is the track I’ve been waiting for. I featured A LOT of artists based in Nashville but I rarely got to feature r&b artists. Discovering Abi was unexpected, in the best possible way. Her vocals are beautiful and soulful, her lyrics are honest and personal, and her songs tell real stories with brilliant melodies.
I love the message behind this new single: love is all we’ve got. A great reminder, after the difficult year we’ve all had.
It’s only her second single but Abi is a very talented artist/songwriter and I’m pretty sure she has a lot more to offer. So please, keep an eye on her :)
And go stream “All I’ve Got” - now available worldwide :)
Photo credit: Camille Bostick Photography
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
My name is Abigail Woods, but I go by Abi for short. Everyone would always call me Abby but they would spell “Abi”. I thought it was funny, because nobody usually spells it that way. I thought it was super cool, and unique so I decided to stick with “Abi”. Anyways, I was born and raised in Nashville, TN. I have been around music my entire life, since Nashville is known for their music. I was always surrounded by a musical environment, and I fell in love with it. My nana and her friend had a gospel group. They would record songs, and sing at different venues all over Tennessee. My mom, sister, and cousins were singers as well. My music journey started out when I began to sing. My mom said that I would always sing. As a little girl I would sing anything that I could. I found an iPod nano and started listening to music, and trying to sing along. My twin sang some as well. We would be in the living room practicing harmonies without any voice lessons at all, and it would sound amazing. My mom thought I was good, so she then put me in voice lessons. I only took voice lessons for a short time, and then I started to do things on my own. I began to write music. I went through my first middle school breakup. At that point I had so many things to write down on paper, and it all started to come together. I still have a little book of the songs I wrote as a kid, and I still add on to the book today. I then started to pick up piano. When I first started playing the piano, I didn’t take any lessons. I just explored the sound of the keys, and then put together what I thought sounded good. I started to become really good at playing songs by ear. Shortly after I started to take piano lessons, participated in recitals, and vocal performances. I then picked up playing the acoustic guitar, and learned some electric guitar along the way. However, around middle school was when I really started to sing in front of groups of people. I participated in every school talent show I could, and I usually got big singing roles in those. My teachers would joke about how they hoped I would remember them if I became famous. It was so funny to me. I continued to participate in school performances. I auditioned to be in a high school talent performance and got chosen to be the opening act. It was super exciting at the time, because of how many people auditioned, and the fact that I was the one chosen. I then went to college and didn’t sing much. I was so focused on studying that I got distracted from what I really wanted to do. Until one day I was in the shower and these lyrics started to come into my brain. I hoped out of the shower and ran to my room to write them down. I thought to myself, wait this is good. I then started to play instrumental beats, and try and sing freestyle, and see what lyrics sounded good. I began to start to write lyrics in my notes app whenever something came to my mind. I would be driving down the road and lyrics would come to me. Or I would be eating dinner and a whole chorus would come to me. It was so weird. I couldn’t sit down and force myself to write music. It would just pop up in my brain.
Do you remember your first musical memories?
I do remember my first musical memory. I remember as a kid we drove to my moms hometown of Lawrenceburg, and we went over to her cousins house. Her cousin is married to Adrian Belew who is a musician, and guitarist. He has toured all around the world, and has worked with amazing musicians such as David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Talking Heads, and more. He was even nominated for a grammy. Anyways, I remember going over to their house when I was in elementary school, and saw a recording studio in the basement of his house. I thought that was so cool. I remember thinking this is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life, and it is in their house! I wanted to sing on that mic so bad. I remember spending most of the day down there so that I could admire the recording instruments that he had. Another early musical memory I had is when I started to take singing lessons. I took lessons in this woman’s house, and we would always go over our session, because I would bring out her microphone and sing covers of different songs. She wouldn’t even stop me, or say that our time was up. She would let me sing and sing. I thought that was so cool the fact that she didn’t care we were under a time crunch, and she would let me sing my heart out.
What did you grow up listening to?
I grew up listening to all kinds of music. Classical, pop, classic rock, punk rock, and even Jazz. My dad would always play The Eagles, Michael Jackson, MCR, Tom Petty, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, The Allman Brothers, Pat Benatar, Sum 41, Blink-182, The Starting line, and Good Charlotte. I would listen to anything that made me want to dance. I loved listening to the classics. It is so awesome to go back and listen to all these great artists, it makes me wish people still made music like that. It opens your eyes to how it used to be. What I mean by that is back then it was all about music. It wasn’t about how you looked, or who you were. It was about is if it was a vibe, if it made you feel something. It was beautiful. People were so focused on making music, and what artists to listen to, I wish that’s how it still was. Music back then brought people together in a different way than it does now.
When did you know you could sing?
I knew I could sing when I was taking vocal lessons at my vocal coach’s house. She wouldn’t tell me that our session was over she would continue to let me sing. She would let me bring out her microphone, and let me pick out whatever I wanted to sing that day. I couldn’t wait until my next session, because that meant I got to bring out the microphone and sing my soul out.
When did you start writing songs? What made you want to write in the first place?
I have been writing songs since middle school. Ever since my middle school breakup I started to write, and write, and write. I remember my childhood best friend lived next-door to me at the time, and I would pick up my home phone and call her to come over when I had written another song. I would always tell her “this is the one”. It was hilarious. I would force every one of my friends, and family to come downstairs so that they could hear the song I wrote. The songs kept getting better, and better as I continued to write. Nothing made me really want to write, I honestly just started to pick it up as a hobby. I didn’t even think about it. I was pissed one day, and picked up my guitar, and pen and wrote a diss track lol. Ever since that day I would write. In the shower I would try and put lyrics and a melody together and just went with whatever sounded good.
At what point did you know you had to be an artist and release your original music?
The point where I knew I had to be an artist, and release my original music was around two years ago. I was in my car and saw that this girl I was following on Instagram had just released a song. I thought wow that is so cool, I want to do that. So I did it. However, I truly had always known at one point I was going to release my music. I have a book upstairs packed full of songs I had written. Ever since I was a little girl I would perform songs in front of my parents, and my friends parents. I always wanted to be a singer, and perform my songs in front of a crowd.
How would you define Abi, the artist?
I would define Abi the artist as standing up and sharing your voice, your talents. To show the world what you’ve got, and see where it takes you. Abi the artist is the little girl finally doing what she wanted. Finally sitting down and saying this is what I want in life, let me share the art that I have created, and worked hard for.
"All I've Got" is your new single - what's the story/inspiration behind this single?
The story/ inspiration behind my new single “All I’ve Got” is about how life takes you through hard times, but all we have to get through those times is love. People experience love in many different ways. That could be through your family, friends, whatever you believe in, a significant other, or even a dog. Whatever it is, love is all we’ve got in this life to get through the hard times. The first verse opens up with “I’m tired of feeling like this every single day, I’m scared of my thoughts I want to run away, but nothing can drown it out except for you”. The “you” is love. Whatever that love represents to you. Love is what drowns out those thoughts that are bringing us down. This is explained more in the second verse when it says “I’m trying to get these thoughts out of my brain, I’m tired of this pain. But when you come around you numb me”. Love is what distracts us, takes us on a journey, and makes us heal. Love is all we’ve got, it’s “All I’ve Got”.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process? Who helped you create it?
The songwriting and production process is such an amazing thing for me. I get to see this project come together, literally just from an idea I had in my brain. I get to watch it grow into this whole project that I got to watch flourish from the beginning. I’ll have an idea about a song, and all of a sudden lyrics will start coming to me. It could take me a week, or a month to write a song. I just wait for the inspiration to come. Sometimes a whole chorus will appear in my brain, and I have to quickly write it down. It is crazy how it works, but lyrics will literally pop up in my brain and start flowing together. Once I get the lyrics I think of a melody that will go well with it. I will then start singing the lyrics and adding different harmonies or adlibs where it fits well with the beat. Once I get the song where I want it I will look for a producer. I will then go and record it, the producer will mix it, ect. Then I will upload it to my distributer and wait for it to be released. Joel Blackmon is the only person who helped me with “All I’ve Got”, and he also helped me by producing “Addicted”. He is the best producer I have ever come across, and one of the only people I would trust with my song. He does such an amazing job every time, and stays killing’ it.
What did you feel when writing this song?
I felt a lot of different emotions when writing “All I’ve Got”. I felt a little sad writing it thinking about all I have been through in life, and where it has taken me. I also started to feel excited, and happy being able to write about where I have been, and how I have gotten to the other side. It was so exciting to be able to release this project. I truly think it is one of the best things I have written. It is crazy how it all came together. I released my first single “Addicted” exactly a year ago from when I released my single “All I’ve Got”. As soon as my first single, “Addicted” got released I was so focused and rushed to try and get another song out there. I was so overwhelmed, and then I reminded myself that I am doing this for fun, it is something I like to do, I shouldn’t be so worried about it. I then started to take a step back, and started to trust the process. Realizing that I need to appreciate the process, and not rush it truly opened my eyes. It made me start to enjoy writing, letting the lyrics come to me, and not me having to force the lyrics out. That is why I can’t just sit down for hours and write songs. I have to wait for the right time for the lyrics to come to me. Once the lyrics start coming into my brain, my brain will start to piece together lyrics like there is no tomorrow. It is insane.
What do you like the most about this song?
The thing I most like about the song is the chorus. I had the melody in my head for a long time, and I wanted it to be a bop. I was waiting for the right song to release this chorus to, and I think it flows really well. I was so excited for this to come out so people could vibe to it. It is just such an exciting, and fun song to me, and I am so happy that people finally get to listen to it.
What made you want to release "All I've Got" as a single?
What made me want to release “All I’ve Got” as a single was because I thought it was such an amazing song by itself. I was thinking about releasing an EP, or album, but I loved the song so much just as it was by itself. I didn’t want any other project to overshadow it, so I wanted to release it as a single.
What does singing make you feel?
Singing makes me feel so good. Nothing else gives me the feeling that singing does. It makes me feel so alive, and makes me so happy. I will randomly start freestyle singing and it will inspire me to write. I will just start vibing with whatever lyrics come out of my mouth, and go from there. It is so cool how the process works, and it is so fun for me.
What do you want to accomplish professionally and personally?
I want to accomplish professionally and personally many different things. First off professionally, I would love to become a big artist. I would love for people to want to listen to my music, and want to see me live. I would love to be an artist that I would’ve looked up to when I was younger. Music is something that makes me so happy, it would be a dream of mine to be able to do this for the rest of my life. Personally, my goals would be to be content with whatever I am doing in life. Of course, my dream would be to do music, but personally as long as I am happy with whatever I am doing I will be fine. I would also love to change someone’s life, and make them think. I would love to change someone’s life in some way even if it is something small. I would love to be someone’s inspiration, and be a part of something bigger than myself. My dreams are far and wide, but I will strive to reach them every day.
What major life lesson have you learned this year?
A major life lesson I have learned from this year is to not take things for granted. For example, COVID 19 has taken a lot of things away not just from me, but from everyone. For example, I used to be able to see my nana all the time. She is the most precious human I have ever come across, and I love to see her as much as I can. However, because of COVID I haven’t been able to see her since she is at high risk. This year has made me appreciate each and every second of every day, because it could be taken away from you at any point.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
In my opinion, I think what would make the world a better place would be love. There is so much hate in the world, it is disguising. There are so many judgmental, rude, and hateful people out there and it hurts to see it. I think if people were kind, and were loving the world would be such a more accepting place. If everyone would love, and accept others it would be so healing. I wish our world was like that.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
A message that I want to deliver to the world is to be yourself, and do what you love. No matter how many people you have in your circle, it will be you, and only you at the end of the day. It is important to love yourself no matter who you are, and what you have accomplished. You are beautiful, and you can do whatever you set your mind to. So love yourself, because love is all we’ve got!
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