New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Green Light Go Entertainment) Whatever your summer may bring: love, love lost, or long-distance romance, the soundtrack to every moment will be provided by the powerfully voiced 19-year-old veteran of the Austin scene, Ariel Abshire. Still So New, produced by Louie Lino (Nada Surf, Wooden Birds and Matt Pond PA), is brimming with passion, honesty and savvy and makes for a lovely blend of youth and experience. It's no wonder, considering that Abshire, while an old hand in the music business, is still relatively new at recording it. "There were so many new experiences during the making of this record," says the singer/songwriter. "I worked with a new producer, I paid for it myself from money made from my last album, and I actually learned to drive. A little late, but I did it.
Experience Still So New for the first time August 16, 2011.
While Still So New sees Abshire getting in touch with her country roots, her influences are not limited to that genre. Stepfather, Lance Fever (lead singer for the notable 90s punk/ska band Gals Panic), introduced her to Austin's alternative scene at an early age and steered his friend Andy Sharp toward producing her debut CD, Exclamation Love. This self-penned album of original material was immediately snatched up by San
Diego label Darla Records (My Morning Jacket,
Robin Guthrie) and released just after Abshire's seventeenth birthday. The record made several top 10 lists and received critical acclaim from such A-list sources as The
Boston Globe, The Austin Chronicle, Exclaim! and Some
Velvet Blog. And the live act that followed earned her a spot on The Austin Chronicle's 'Top Ten Female Vocalists' list of 2009.
Raised in the "live music capital of the world," Abshire has always been surrounded by great music and the people who make it. She started singing classic hardcore country at honky tonks and dance halls with
Texas music hall of famer Alvin Crow at 11 years old. For years, Austin's legendary Broken Spoke was her second home where her talents were nurtured by the likes of Pinetop Perkins, Clifford Antone, and countless other Austin greats. She has shared the stage with lvin Crow, Jerry Jeff Walker, Dale Watson, Kellie Pickler, Robert Earl Keen, Speak, Julia Nunes, The Rocket Summer, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Golden Arm Trio. Her passion for live shows has not dissipated. "I really live for show days," says Abshire. "It gives me a chance to be more extroverted than I usually am."
Abshire's voice can also be heard on Matt Pond PA's upcoming EP,
Spring Fools and his upcoming LP as well as "Cardboard (Version 1), a collaboration with Japancakes (who also played on Still So New) on a Darla Records compilation. She has also been featured on the soundtracks of feature films by Robert Rodriguez and Trevor Romain, numerous video game projects, and an animated cartoon for Adult Swim's
William Street Studios.
