John Calvin Abney

Tour completed. What a gift it was to cross the land with good honest folks again and play instruments for the S.G. band on the big stages. Team S.G. Goodman and Jesse Welles were a good match. Until the next journey begins.

Back in Austin for a single night, playing keyboards and guitars for .g.goodman at Stubb’s, as she supports Jesse Welles and his band. This tour is coming to a close. I missed y’all down here. Might try and hit some of the old haunts if I can.

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Mountain to sound. Vancouver was transcendent. Just over a week left of this journey. Tonight in Portland, OR, SG Goodman opens the evening for Jesse Welles at the Crystal Ballroom, and I’ll be behind the piano.

There’s an uncommon experience that subtly strikes like soft lightning when you’re passing through a town on the way to where you’re headed. You say to yourself that you’ll likely never return for any reason to the fading paint, quiet thoroughfares, and hand painted signs of both gratitude and grief, that say “thank you for the past forty years of business”. Many years pass and the place slips silently into the valleys deep between the canyons of memory. One day, you stop for gasoline and ci******es only to look up and recognize the odd angle of agricultural supply store and the dilapidated neon of a bottle shop, and you can’t recall why in the moment. That’s when the soft lightning pulls the water up from the valley, and you laugh, because you had thought you’d never see this place again only to be there by the grace of wandering chaos. What is liminal space to a traveler is the living home of others, and should never be seen as singular. We close the gates ourselves.

Onward to Vancouver.

Two ecstatic evenings in Minneapolis at First Avenue can be enough to shake the blues off of you. Still out in the wild world playing dual keyboards and cloudy guitars for SG Goodman, opening for Jesse Welles and his sharp band. I dwelled in the light of ancient stained glass in Detroit and drank Hemingways in Madison. Onward over the Rocky Mountains, toward Boise, Idaho.

Bestowed with the joy of performing keyboards in .g.goodman’s band at the great Massey Hall in Toronto last night, in support of Jesse Welles.

The sound was stellar, the room was stunning, and the crowd was with us. Grateful to make noise with friends.

Last autumn, I released into these realms a project I still hold close to my spirit. The full length record Transparent Towns was crafted at studio with dear friends, all with their unique abilities and perceptive ears. Although the hours passed at a fiercely rapid clip, we put every ounce of ourselves we could into translating whatever transmissions we fished out of the ether. We’ve got a small amount of the first vinyl pressings left over at Bandcamp today, with all the artist fees waived. If the record spoke to you in even the most minuscule mote, go acquire a copy and we’ll get it to you pronto.

Tonight in Boston, I’ll be performing keyboards and auxiliary instruments in .g.goodman’s band, supporting Jesse Welles, at the House of Blues.

Sold out night two of two, tonight at the legendary 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. Playing keys for sister .g.goodman, supporting and his excellent band. Snow is dusting the skies this afternoon.

On a special side note, RIP to the joint of legend, Weaver D’s in Athens. I took the photo of my jacket that became the album cover of Far Cries and Close Calls on the concrete right outside the front door, with on tour over a decade back. Automatic for the people forever.

The spring sojourn continues up the eastern seaboard as SG Goodman supports Jesse Welles on his North American tour.

Tonight and tomorrow are a sold out double header at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC.

Photo taken at the Magnolia sessions deep in Hocking Hills, Ohio.

The .g.goodman crew knocked it out of the park at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last night, supporting Jesse Welles and his sharp band. Every time I have the fortune of performing on that stage, time dilates a bit in a way that the songs and sounds last slightly longer in my mind. Grateful for that gift. Heading to Atlanta today as we push onward through the states.

group photo in b+w by guitar man

The scene from the sessions, as of late.

Leaving for the road for many weeks ahead, first heading to Knoxville to play the electric piano in SG Goodman’s band, supporting Jesse Welles.

I’ll be playing keyboards and auxiliary in .g.goodman’s band this spring, across the United States and Canada, supporting . The year of our lord 2026 crawls like hungry ivy on empty walls. See you out there.

2/23 Bijou Theatre - Knoxville, TN
2/24 Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
2/25 The Eastern - Atlanta, GA
2/27 Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
2/28 The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
3/1 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
3/2 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
3/4 The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
3/6 Citizens House of Blues - Boston, MA
3/7 Capitol Theater - Port Chester, NY
3/8 Massey Hall - Toronto, ON
3/10 Majestic Theater - Detroit, MI
3/11 The Sylvee - Madison, WI
3/12 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
3/13 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
3/17 Treefort Music Hall - Boise, ID
3/19 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
3/20 Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
3/21 The UC Theater - Berkeley, CA
3/22 Observatory North Park - San Diego, CA
3/24 The Van Buren - Phoenix, AZ
3/26 Stubb’s - Austin, TX
3/27 Longhorn Ballroom - Dallas, TX
3/28 Ozark Music Hall - Fayetteville, AR