Josh Abbott Band on Indie Success: 'My Best Day Would Be Luke Combs' Worst Day'

Earlier this summer, When Josh Abbott learned he had achieved a third gold single, his first thought was about the big picture symbolism.

“For it to happen in the second decade of my career, it makes me feel validated,” Abbott says. “It says we're a band that's going to last and be around for a long time. It says I can write hit music and I don't need to rely on national radio to make it gold.”

The Josh Abbott Band announced Thursday that “Settle Me Down,” from their 2020 self-titled album, has been certified by the RIAA. The song joins Abbott's 2010 recordings “She's Like Texas” and “Oh, Tonight” – the latter recorded as a duet with Kacey Musgraves – in reaching the 500,000 sales milestone.

Abbott wrote all three of his gold-certified songs, but the first two were some of his earliest compositions. He began playing music in 2006 while attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock, and the Josh Abbott Band has been touring since 2008. “Oh, Tonight” was instrumental in launching not only Abbott's career, but Musgraves' as well. Both this song and “She's Like Texas” were certified gold in April 2021. All three were independent releases on Abbott's Pretty Damn Tough label.

“'Settle Me Down' is a song I wrote for my wife,” says Abbott Rolling Stone“with some friends of mine who happen to be from Texas. To be able to record this song at a later stage is special and it went gold faster. These first two lasted more than 10 years. “Settle Me Down” was released in late 2020 and essentially qualified for gold in late 2023.”

Abbott acknowledges the milestone by releasing “Settle Me Down” as part of his “Hangar Sessions” project — a YouTube-based collection of recent songs recorded with a full band in an airplane hangar in Austin.

“It just had a really nice sound in this huge, empty room and gave it a lot of natural resonance,” Abbott says of the project. “Mostly we've been doing new stuff, since our last record, Somewhere on the roadand I just decided I was feeling the vibe and wanted to play an acoustic song. I chose “Settle Me Down” because it will always be one of my favorite songs. I was very happy with how it turned out. I did it in a live take and I think that's what music is all about.”

Released in January, Somewhere on the road is Abbott's seventh studio album. He spent the year on a self-titled tour named for the album (with three new members added to his eight-piece in the last two years). He also made his Stagecoach debut in April and continues to play with the Panhandlers – a Texas supergroup featuring Abbott, William Clark Green, John Baumann and Cleto Cordero of the Flatland Cavalry.

As the landscape of country music has shifted toward younger artists using social media to reach new fans, how have you adapted?
There are days when I feel extremely satisfied and appreciative of the career I've had, and the band members I've had over the years, even though some have changed. But there are days when I find myself hanging on, trying to stay relevant. When you're a younger artist, everything is focused on you. You can't record enough, or soon enough. Every time you put something out, people are everywhere. But ultimately, way down the line, you're revered as a legacy act, and I'm in the middle. It was challenging, really, emotionally and mentally, for me.

If I'm being really transparent and vulnerable here, there have been days when I wonder if I have a career ahead of me. But there are others where I go, “No. I'll be fine. I will do this for the rest of my life.” Maybe all artists feel that way, but that's how it's been for me in the last couple of years.

In that context, what motivates you now, especially as a songwriter?
My family. I find it really hard to write songs that are sad. I can't write a breakup song. I have already done it in my past. I had a whole album about that sort of thing. I'm at a point now where it's hard for me to write these songs and be balanced as a songwriter. But I'm also not at a stage in my career where I'm writing college beer drinking songs. I write songs that inspire me about real things. Fortunately, the Panhandlers were a good outlet for songs like this.

I also don't push myself to write a lot of songs about myself. We have seven albums. Fans know what they like. They want to hear the old shit. I've heard Paul McCartney make this joke in concert. I've heard Garth Brooks make that joke. I've heard Bruce Springsteen do it. We understand that. You want to hear the old shit. But we still want to make new music, and we just have to accept that the new shit might not smell as good as the old shit.

So what does success look like to you at this point in your career?
My best day would be the worst day for someone like Luke Combs. Everyone's high is someone else's low, on an artificial level. So, I have to look at it like I can make a living. I am able to provide a living for all these guys I care about who share this bus with me 180 days a year. In that respect, yes, it's difficult, but to take care of these guys over 16, I know I shouldn't let it go so easily. I really appreciate that, especially because, what's really behind it is the fact that after all these years there are still fans. We may not be selling as many tickets in some markets, but we are selling more tickets in other markets than we have in the past. I think it's just appreciating the moment, the fans who come to the shows holding signs and the people who tag me and say our song was part of their wedding or funeral, whatever it is. To know that our songs affect people on a real level and that they still want to see us play live, you have to appreciate it.

Is there any advantage to achieving gold level sales while remaining independent?
I think it's encouraging for younger artists to be able to see that you don't have to sign a record deal and you don't have to get a song on national radio or sell a million records to make a song. accredited with an award like this.

Josh Kratsmer is a journalist and author whose third book, Red Dirt Unpluggedis due out on December 13, 2024, via Back Lounge Publishing and is available for pre-order.