SEVEN TIMES DOWN(7xdown)

Abraham Z. Cates was born in 1975, to an artistic/musical family, in South China, Maine. He began playing music with upright bass & piano at age 10, then picked up guitar in his mid-teens. Abe has always gravitated toward honest, heartfelt songs pondering human existence, relationships, the Creator, and inherent creativity of all things. He remembers as a small child, listening to his father weave a tapestry of stories through the music he wrote on his 12-string. Abe asked him one day how to write songs,” his Dad said "You just start." So, now duly equipped with the necessary kick-in-the-pants he needed, Abe began on his journey. “Some people journal, I write songs to express my feelings”. His influences are as varied as Jimmy Webb to Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan to Bono(of U2). Abe’s music could mostly be classified as folk with a country/rock- experimental edge. He’s developed a liking for the production of Daniel Lanois in recent years. When he was young, Abe played in churches; during college He met Ben Stamper and after swapping songs a few times, they formed "the Smokin' ephods" folk duo. They honed their singing and guitar picking skills while busking on the streets of Northampton, MA. The "ephods" frequented coffeehouses in and around Amherst MA and clubs & churches in New York & New Jersey, even Connecticut and Maine. After a hiatus of nearly a decade, Abraham is writing and looking to gig again under the moniker of… 7 x Down 7xdown's sound is pretty stripped down.Acoustic & electric guitar's, bass, percussion of sorts(conga, shaker, bean pod & baby rattle, whatever I can find)I hope you enjoy, cause I sure do.7 x D I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)