Cliff Abbott’s lyrical storyteller style shines through in ‘How Much Longer?’

Cliff Abbott is a storyteller who thumps an upright bass and strums an acoustic guitar. This combination, along with the words to the self-penned stories he writes, makes Abbott a lyrical storyteller in the vein of Tom T. Hall and Roger Miller. Abbott’s songs can swing between country, folk and rockabilly — or, as many like to call it, “Americana.”

If the name Cliff Abbott sounds oddly familiar … well, it should. Abbott is a regular news writer for TheTrucker.com. He’s also a veteran of the trucking industry, having spent 13 years as an OTR driver (five of them as an owner-operator) and 25 years as a driver trainer, recruiter and safety manager.

And, as if those accomplishments weren’t enough, he’s also a singer-songwriter with six CD releases under his belt. His latest collection, “How Much Longer?” firmly fits into the Americana genre.

Abbott’s acoustic music and unpolished vocal style could easily make him a bluegrass performer. That bluegrass style is evident in several of the dozen songs on his latest CD. Each song is an original, never before recorded. His recording studio, BB Wolf Recording — billed as the “Best Little Studio in Rock Creek, Alabama — must have been made for Cliff Abbott. After all, it claims to specialize in country, bluegrass, rockabilly and, yes, Americana.

A listen to the title track from “How Much Longer?” will remind you of the idyllic days of Norman Rockwell and how much America has lost since. No matter on which side you stand on the state of America in the 21st century (Abbott takes neither), his question of “How much longer?” will resonate. It’s a song of tradition and glamorous pastimes left behind, with a message that if we don’t clean up our act, it may be over far too soon.

In the ballad “Tell Maureen (I won’t be coming home),” Abbott tells a touching story, set on the battlefields of the Civil War, of two solders from opposing sides laying aside their differences at a pivotal moment. Abbott reminds us that division within a nation is costly, and the ironic ending is enough to give anyone pause (you’ll just have to have a listen). This song is also a reminder that the story told in “How Much Longer?” could result in repeated history.

Abbott also entertains with a couple of humorous songs to which almost any red-blooded Southerner can relate. “Dr. Whiskey (Dr. Beer and Nurse Tequila)” will point us in the right direction to cure our ails, while “That’s Gotta Hurt” reminds us of that friend we all have who just can’t seem to stay away from trouble. And, as Abbott sings, we recall with a little bit of fortunate glee that the shoe is not on the other foot.

“I don’t claim to be a great performer or singer, but I do it to share my writing,” Abbot says. And he does so regularly on “The Dee Ford Show” on Talladega, Alabama’s WOTM TV 21. He’s also a frequent guest and emcee at the Sugar Creek Music Club in Hayden, Alabama, a venue he immortalizes in his newest CD’s opening number, “The Club on Sugar Creek.” What’s more, he’s co-founder of the Sugar Creek SongCrafters, a mentoring group for budding artists who want to learn about songwriting .

With influences like Bobby Bare, Bob Dylan and John Prine — all storytellers in their own rights — Abbott is keen on what is going on around him. In his tune, “My Next Breakup Song,” he says, he was inspired by arguably the world’s most popular current entertainer, Taylor Swift, and her songs about her own exes. For one whose tastes lean a bit more to the country music side (apologies to Taylor Swift, as she is actually rooted in country), the song brings up memories of George Strait’s classic, “All My Exes Live in Texas.”

Speaking of the Lone Star State, Abbott latest album includes a requisite for pretty much every country music collection — a song about Texas: “Long Gone to Texas.” Of course, he throws in an also-requisite gospel song, “I’m Not Resting,” and one paying homage to his mother in “Mama’s Silvertone.”

As a trucker, one might expect Abbott to include a trucking song or two on his CDs — and he often does. In the case of “How Much Longer?” he skips that expectation, although previous songs from other CDs like “Lines on the Highway,” “Big Wheels Rolling Home,” “American Trucker” and “Highway State of Mind” can all be heard and downloaded on his website, www.cliffabbott.com. But “How Much Longer?” doesn’t pass up the transportation industry altogether.

Perhaps my favorite song on the new CD is “Run Before the Wind.” One could say the tune covers intramodal shipping on the high seas. The singer’s ghostly encounter with “an ancient sailor” leads to a little advice, much like what Kenny Rogers picked up in “The Gambler.”

     “Some days the wind’s behind you, and the wake trails from the stern,
     Some days the wind’s against you, you must tack from turn to turn,
     Some days the wind is calm, it’s to the oars you must attend,
     And when the tempest roars, you must run before the wind,
     While the storm is raging, you must run before the wind.”

“Run Before the Wind” is a song to which anyone can relate if they stop and think about the various curve balls life has thrown them. We must all adjust to life based on our daily circumstances. For Cliff Abbott, “Run Before the Wind” offers the perfect moral to a group of tales that spring from a lifetime of living.

That’s what Americana is all about, isn’t it?

Photo by Sara Elizabeth Hall

Kris Rutherford

Since retiring from a career as an outdoor recreation professional from the State of Arkansas, Kris Rutherford has worked as a freelance writer and, with his wife, owns and publishes a small Northeast Texas newspaper, The Roxton Progress. Kris has worked as a ghostwriter and editor and has authored seven books of his own. He became interested in the trucking industry as a child in the 1970s when his family traveled the interstates twice a year between their home in Maine and their native Texas. He has been a classic country music enthusiast since the age of nine when he developed a special interest in trucking songs.