Songwriter's Tales with Abbi Love

Church is something that so many songwriters and artist seem to have in common. For me it was the first place that I could sing with my full heart and not get a lecture from my mom to take it down a few notches. For the next spotlight artist, church wasn’t the first place Abbi Love started singing, but it played a pivotal role in her musical journey.

I first met Abbi Love at AVO, a vegan restaurant in Nashville, and her vocals blew me away. Not only that, but her songwriting craft reeled me in on a day when I was cold and a little grumpy. When I asked Abbi where her musical journey started she said, “ My mom used to tell me I came out the womb singing. I have memories pre-kindergarten of putting on performances at my church and singing songs that definitely weren’t meant for Sunday service, but I didn’t care because I loved having an audience. I started taking piano lessons at five years old and writing and recording in the studio at the age of eight. I really got the music bug when my first song “The Message” was played at my local radio station and I got to do an interview to promote the song. At fourteen, I landed a Skype call with an RCA representative who set me on a path of artist development with a company called One One Seven. That was around the time I came to Nashville for the first time and got serious about being an artist. After spending my high school years developing my writing with coaches in LA and creating a website and brand, I moved to Nashville at seventeen to study music at Belmont University. I’m a few years post graduation now, and I’ve been playing more writer rounds than ever, but I would like to start releasing more music and sharing my new sound with the world.”

What a wild ride that must have been, and what amazing learning experiences that 

Abbi has had. As a teacher, I am here for it. Maybe next time you see Abbi on Songwriter Tales, she will share some tips and tricks that she has learned along the way. Abbi’s travels have been vast, and when I asked her about a highlight of her musical journey, she responded, “From seventh grade until my senior year, I was a member of the Cincinnati Youth Choir, a choir in residence at the University of Cincinnati. During my time with the group we were invited to perform at unbelievably cool places all over the world like the Great Wall of China in Beijing and Sunday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.”

When I asked my favorite question for songwriters, I immediately fell in love with Abbi’s response. For those of you that don’t know, my favorite question is, “What song that you wrote that has a special story behind it?” for Abbi, she recalled, “ One of my favorite songs right now that I’ve written is called “Grandma’s Kitchen Table.” It was a co-write with my friend Joli Hope, and it’s about growing up and leaving your hometown and feeling like you can’t get closure on your childhood. Growing up, my grandma’s table was a central location. We would play board games, do homework, and eat family dinners all around this rickety wooden table in her kitchen. My freshman year of college, everything in her house was sold and she went into assisted living. This sounds so silly but never getting to say goodbye to the things in that house impacted me so heavily and made me realize I was really entering adulthood.”

What is up next or Abbi in her five-year plan? According to her, “In the next five years, I would love to release an EP or album and go on tour. I’ve been holding on to so many songs for the past five years, and I really have so much I’d like to release and share with everyone. I do have a single that’s in the finishing stages, so I’m hoping that will be released in the near future.” While waiting for that EP release, Abbi’s newest single release is being created as we read, “No Man’s Land” Here is what she had to say about that single. “It was a co-write with another Belmont grad, Martin Chiesel, and we actually wrote, recorded, and released this song without ever meeting in person. He was in Los Angeles at the time studying there, and so we did a virtual write. We eventually celebrated the release a year later with ice cream where we got to actually meet up in Nashville.” 

Where can you find Abbi Love next? With a constant changing schedule the best way to stay in touch with Abby and her music is to follow her on Instagram at officialabbylove. Two dates you can add on your calendar include Hyatt Place Downtown Nashville on June 20th and TN Live at Mockingbird Theatre June 27.