An Evening with Rod Abernethy

Rod Abernethy is a unique blend of an authentic southern folk troubadour, master acoustic guitarist, and award winning songwriter and composer for film, TV and video games and the Overall Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 International Acoustic Music Awards. In 2019 he was the Grand Prize winner of American Songwriter’s Bob Dylan Song Contest. His last album Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore, produced by Grammy nominated producer Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Glen Phillips), received rave reviews from No Depression, American Highways and The Wall Street Journal and was the Top 20 CD of 2021 at No. 11 on the Folk International Folk Charts.

Rod’s talents go beyond being a dynamic performer, vocalist, instrumentalist, and storyteller. He’s a prolific photographer, a sculpture artist of whimsical steampunk found-object robots and a seasoned teacher and adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC, where he teaches how to score video games. As composer, Rod has scored and produced music for countless television shows, commercials and over 80 video games including the Electronic Art’s blockbuster hit “Dead Space” which won a BAFTA Award in 2009 for Best Use of Audio and Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” for Vivendi Universal which won the Game Audio Network Guild’s Video Game Soundtrack Of The Year in 2003. 

Rod continues to perform live in acoustic venues and halls across the country. Past venues include The Woodstock Folk Festival (Woodstock, IL), Club Passim (Boston, MA), The Cat’s Cradle (Chapel Hill, NC) and the ISIS Music Hall (Asheville, NC). He will also be a featured artist on this year’s popular PBS series, Songs At The Center hosted by Eric Gnesda.

 QUOTES:

“Impressive guitar-picking is an attraction in itself, and Mr. Abernethy proves an adept, vocal interpreter with his takes on John Mayer’s “Changing” and Bob Dylan’s “Oxford Town.” The title song was apparently written just before the pandemic hit, but certainly applies today…it could be an anthem.” – The Wall Street Journal

“A message as poignant as it is heartwarming…this idea of unity, so valuable and necessary in these times of polarization and strife, is so beautifully done.”  – American Songwriter on “Another Year” 

“Nothing may be normal in 2021, but Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore offsets Abernethy’s doom and gloom with true joy.”  – No Depression

“ Revealing autobiographical tales and more” – Acoustic Guitar Magazine

“Armed with great storytelling, mature songwriting, and impeccable groove, Rod Abernethy holds the audience in the palm of his hand. He brings his heart and soul into everything he plays.”  – Martha Bassett (host of The Martha Bassett Show)