Fred Gillen Jr With Special Guest Abbie Gardner

     Since his first solo concert in 1996, Fred Gillen Jr has traveled all over the U.S. and Europe singing his songs of hope and struggle at all types of venues, building a devoted following along the way.  He feels at home performing at any type and size of venue, from a "house concert" in Indiana to Irving Plaza in New York City, to the main stages of festivals, and everything in between.  He has played at many prestigious and famous venues, and as many farmers markets, coffeehouses, pubs, and union rallies.  With his sometimes partner Matt Turk he played for several years in the New York City subways as part of the MUNY (Music Under NY) program.  At every performance he opens his heart and pours out the unglamorous but compelling tales of the marginalized and forgotten.  His songs have often been described as both painfully intimate and universal, and this is what he strives for in writing them.  His live performances are spontaneous celebrations of all that it is to be human; the joy and the pain, the comedy and the tragedy.
     Gillen's work has received its share of critical acclaim and commercial exposure.  He has had songs on network TV on ABC's All My Children and MSG Network's NYC Soundtracks.  He was awarded a NYFA (N.Y. Foundation For The Arts) grant to help cover expenses for his first European tour.  In the late 1990's and 2000's when he was still primarily a regional artist, he was voted "best folk artist" for three straight years in Westchester Weekly, his local A&E paper.  He also served his local community as President of non-profit music organization Tribes Hill for three years, and is currently on that organization's board.  Hope Machine, the traveling hootenanny that he is a founding member of, is an "official program" of the Woody Guthrie Foundation & Archives, and a song from their debut CD March was included in Folk Alliance's War And Politics Compilation CD in 2011.  The Gillen & Turk version of Gillen's song
Fall Down was featured on the 2008 CMJ Sampler, distributed to 11,000 CMJ
conference attendees and radio programers.
     Gillen is a prolific songwriter, recording artist, and producer.  From 1997 to the present he has released eight independent studio solo albums, one live album, two albums with Hope Machine, and one as half of the duo "Gillen & Turk," all to substantial critical acclaim.  His music has also been played on independent, commercial, public, and college radio all over the world.  In 2010 two of his songs were recorded by Hudson Valley band The Yayas.  As a producer he has about thirty records credited to him in the past five years, and his studio "Woody's House" is a busy hub of Hudson Valley creativity.  His own latest album, Silence Of The Night brings him back slightly to his rock roots, while also retaining a folky message and delivery.  Sixteen tracks long, it features his first spoken-word piece on record in ten years and his first instrumental in sixteen years!  The new record, while being truly an "album" and not a collection of singles, dips a big, colorful bucket into the wellspring of American music, touching on folk, Americana, rock, roots, and even funk.  One of its songs This Old Car was featured, before its official release, on the NPR syndicated show "Car Talk."  Gillen will be touring constantly in 2012 and 2013 promoting the new album.

Best known as one-third of the female harmony Americana trio Red Molly, Abbie Gardner has listened to the sweet sound of high lonesome harmonies since her first bluegrass festival at three years old. Her father, Herb Gardner, is a swing jazz and stride pianist and dixieland trombonist. He introduced Abbie to one of her favorite vocalists, Billie Holiday, and continues to be a big influence on the musician she is and strives to be.

Abbie studied classical flute growing up, but once she started playing Dobro in 2004 she found her main instrument. She traveled to Lyons, CO and Nashville, TN to study with Rob Ickes and Sally Van Meter. Left to her own devices, without many Dobro influences near NYC, Abbie continues to develop her style by listening to other instrumentalists, such as David Rawlings, Ry Cooder and Bonnie Raitt. Always keen on following the vocal part and trying to find the one really perfect note, instead of a dozen okay ones, Abbie is quickly compiling an extensive discography of recording credits.

She recorded three full-length albums and one EP with Red Molly, the last of which spent several weeks in the Top 10 on the Radio & Records Americana Chart (Spring 2010).   In 2008, She released Bad Nights/Better Days a duo record of original material with Anthony da Costa. The album was featured on WFUV’s top 2008 album lists and has been described as a work of staggering emotional power. (Acoustic Live! in NYC, 2008)

Abbie’s first full-length recording, My Craziest Dream is an album of jazz standards featuring her father on piano. It earned her an entry in the 2009 Hal Leonard book The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide and she continues to perform with her father, whenever possible.

Abbie has a strong throaty voice that’s reminiscent of Wesla Whitfield’s… she uses it to render evergreens from the 1920s and 1930s with a crew of guys who play like they were around when this music was the cat’s pajamas.  (Cadence Magazine, June 2004)

Her 2006 release Honey on My Grave was her first independently released CD of mostly original music spanning varied genres with consistently strong Dobro, guitar, and vocal performances.  (Chronogram, 2006)

Abbie has been recognized as an award-winning songwriter, as well, with such accolades as; 2008 Lennon Award Winner (folk) for “The Mind of a Soldier” and 2008 American Songwriter Magazine Grand Prize Lyric Winner for “I’d Rather Be”. Her song “Honey on My Grave” was also published in Sing Out! Magazine in 2008.

Abbie continues to tour with Red Molly, currently promoting their third full-length CD James.   Her latest solo CD “Hope” was released in April 2011.  It features 8 new original songs, 3 covers and three different types of slide!  See the shows page for updates on the CD release tour with Craig Akin on upright bass and Abbie on dobro & National Steel guitar.