Abe Partridge
BIO
Abe Partridge grew up in Alabama, a grunge-loving child of the early ‘90s, until he had an awakening that sent him miles away – both literally and figuratively. By his early twenties, he had completed divinity school and moved to a rural enclave of Kentucky – no high-speed internet, no jam-packed cable systems – in order to pursue his calling as an evangelical minister, preaching the gospel to a small-but-fervent congregation of true believers.
It was there that he discovered what would be one of the biggest influences on his musical personality – the dark and stormy acoustic blues of pioneers like Son House, whose cut-to-the-bone performance style really resonated with Partridge as he progressed on his journey, both musically and spiritually.
“It’s funny, once I got to be part of the [religious] community, all of those rock records had to go, since they were evil.” he recalls with a laugh. “But they had no problem with the old blues stuff, even though the material wasn’t all that different. They were okay with me listening to these old records, because they grew up with them too. Besides, Son House was actually a preacher before he started playing for people, so…”
Like his forebear, Partridge found himself in a period of questioning, not so much his core beliefs, but the way in which he was pursuing them. Experiencing a second awakening of sorts, the pharmacist’s son walked away from his post and returned home to examine his spiritual self, moving back to his childhood home and essentially rebuilding from the ground up.
“I had a wife and two children, and no real idea of what I wanted to do, and that’s when I really started writing songs, though it took a while for me to let anyone else hear them,” he recalls. “But I knew I had to do something. I resorted to songwriting because it helps me express myself in a way I could not in any other form.”
While that period of his life certainly had a profound impact on him, he was also shaped by the stretch that would follow – serving with the Air Force in Qatar in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, where the desert gave up secrets that would find their way into some of his darker material.
Upon his return to the states, where he’s still part of the service, he began taking his stories to the streets – literally. He’d take his first shot at live performance with a roll of the dice – by sending a cell-phone recording of some of his original songs to the folks at the Gulf Coast Songwriter Shootout, an Alabama conclave that brings together some of the region’s most acclaimed up-and-coming talent.
“I took the stage last. I was well aware that my songs were different than everything else that anybody did that night,” he recalls. “I had no idea how they would be received, and I had to fight back anxiety like I had never had before to get on the stage. I was inwardly preparing myself for embarrassment. Well, I played my 3 songs, and the crowd went wild.”
Partridge’s debut, Cotton Fields and Blood For Days, was released on Skate Mountain Records in 2018 earning him rave reviews. Since then, Partridge has toured relentlessly, developing a reputation for moving, passionate, and often comedic performances.
In fall of 2022, Partridge and co-prouder Ferrill Gibbs launched the Alabama Astronaut podcast where Partridge explores the previously undocumented songs, as well as the culture, around the serpent handling churches in Appalachia. It was in the Top Ten documentary podcasts on Apple Podcasts within days of the release and now has over 30K downloads and a 4.9 star rating.
Partridge is a highly acclaimed visual artist. His folk art, primarily acrylic on tarred board and watercolors, hangs in the galleries around the Southeast and in the private collections of luminaries such as Tyler Childers, Mike Wolfe (American Pickers), Rick Hirsch (Wet Willie) and Tommy Prine.
