BayFest

Saving Abel sharpens work ethic

By Stephen Centanni

Music editor

As far as rock-and-roll biz is concerned, no one ever said it was easy. Even so, bands with a determined work ethic and a dream form each year, cutting their teeth in various venues, offices and studios with the sole purpose of “making it.”

Corinth, Mississippi’s Saving Abel is a testament that hard work and determination does pay off for some. Just a few years ago, Jared Weeks (vocals), Jason Null (guitars), Scott Bartlett (guitars), Eric Taylor (bass) and Blake Dixon (drums) were still working day jobs and dedicating their free time to promoting Saving Abel any way they could, including throwing demos on stage when bigger acts would come through town.

After producer Skidd Mills (Saliva, 12 Stones) heard the song “18 Days,” the dominos began to fall. Saving Abel was ushered into 747 Studios in Memphis to record. It was not long until Saving Abel was signed to Virgin with their song “Addicted” earning steady rotation on radio stations across America, and a self-titled debut (including an enhanced version) set to hit shelves. Needless to say, life for these five musicians has significantly changed, but their dedication to getting their music heard by as many people as possible has not.

“When we were trying to get heard, we were mostly playing local within 100 miles,” bassist Eric Taylor explains. “We were selling out places that would hold two or three hundred people. We thought that was really amazing and really awesome. Like now, we went to Flint, Michigan to a place that held 800 people, and we sold it out on a headline run. Just knowing that people are hearing about us, they’re getting the album, they know the songs, they’re coming to see us and it really makes us feel good.”

Saving Abel is not only attracting ears with “Addicted,” but the video produced for the song is also getting tons of attention on MTV, VH1 and Fuse. It paints a conceptual picture of the song with the band surrounded by beautiful, seductive women. And, Saving Abel has followed in the path of many other musicians by creating an uncensored version with nudity (it’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it, right?)

“We did the unedited one, and we then did the edited one,” Taylor says. “We actually released the unedited one on Playboy.com like a couple of weeks before we released the edited one to Fuse and MTV and got a great response. We go over 500,000 hits on Playboy.com. It was really fun to shoot! Best 14 hours of my life!”

Their next video release, however, explores a much more serious topic, as they decided to focus on the American military, still stationed in the Middle East.

According to Taylor, this video for “18 Days” shows the toll that war takes on both the soldiers and their families. The band even recruited actual military personnel to star alongside them in this video.

“Dude, it was amazing,” Taylor boasts. “We dedicated that to our soldiers over there fighting for our freedom right now. We went to San Francisco to the USS Hornet, which is an aircraft carrier that they’ve turned into a museum. They brought in some planes and jets, and it was great. It gives me chills.”

In addition to the numerous rock fans they have won over, Saving Abel has also brought many sports fans into their fold with numerous appearances at various sporting events across the nation.

“We did a Nationwide Series Event in Montana and California,” Taylor says. “We did the National Anthem, and it was really fun. We got to meet all the drivers and watch the first hundred laps. We did the kick-off party for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. That was a real good crowd down there, a rowdy crowd down there! I didn’t realize the passion that NFL fans had.”

Saving Abel’s work ethic both on stage and off has not wavered since being signed. Not only will BayFest fans get to see this, but also fans across the country, as they plan on playing non-stop for as long as they can.

In addition to their busy tour schedule, fans will be pleased to know their self-titled release is not the only album they have in ‘em, and Taylor says that they have been spending time on the bus collaborating and writing new music for a possible sophomore release.

“Probably, sometime next summer is when we’re gonna try to get some stuff down,” Taylor speculates. “I haven’t heard when we’re supposed to go in and record the next album. Hopefully, it will be in the next couple of years.”

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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