Bill Abernathy Finds Redemption And Second Chances “Crossing Willow Creek”

Track list:

1. Can’t Go Back – 3:42

2. Changes – 4:28

3. Willow Creek – 3:40

4. Cry Wolf – 4:14

5. Meant To Be – 5:07

6. Whiskey Road – 4:10

7. Loves in Vain – 4:37

8. White Knight – 4:31

9. Any Port in a Storm – 4:39

10. Yuppie Blues – 4:15

11. Icarus Ascending – 4:17

Redemption and second chances are something that makes for great stories, especially in the world of music. The music business is filled with bands and musicians who have risen from addictions, separations, bad performing albums in terms of sales and reception, and a multiple myriad of other reasons–we could go on forever.

All of that just makes Bill Abernathy’s comeback album, Crossing Willow Creek, all the more enjoyable and appealing to the man’s audience: it’s a testimony of what makes this man such a great musician and it’s an example that life can throw lots of curve balls at you and you can still come out on top.

In this case, Bill was a young musician from Kansas City that had a somewhat successful career as a musician in his teens, but then proceed to get married, had children and slowly, bit by bit, he drifted away. But after seeing his children grow up and have professional careers on their own, Bill decided to take another crack at the music business and his brand of Folk and Americana has been a joy for all of us–music that is both enjoyable and to the point.

Something that has made him such a success is the fact that he can offer many different music styles and Crossing Willow Creek being a compilation album is a great testimony to the man’s endurance musically speaking and all of his covers, new tracks, live versions and whatnot that is offered here. There’s definitely a bit for everything, as the man himself one said: “…many have classified my music as Rock, Folk, Folk Rock, Country, and Adult Contemporary. I find it hard to put myself in any box, as the tunes I write really span a large range of genre’s and styles depending on the message of tune itself.”

This is an album that you’re going to listen in quick fashion because there’s so much variety and yet a very coherent musical pattern, so everything sounds diverse but coming from the very same artist, which is always great. Bill is a musician with a very stablished musical identity and it’s shown in this body of work.

Overall, Crossing Willow Creek is a great reminder of Bill Abernathy’s talents and proof that there’s no such thing as never or impossible in the world of music–that with a lot of work you can achieve your dreams while you shoot for the moon.

Why not? It worked for Bill.

–Kevin Tanza