Sweetwater Abilene profile picture

Sweetwater Abilene

Obey the law of the pack.

About Me

Imagine if John Steinbeck hadn’t grown up to be a novelist and instead spent his time in a garage listening to a steady diet of CCR, Neil Young, Jonathan Richman, and Gang of Four while practicing on a dusty Harmony Strat-O-Tone. He probably would have started a band that sounds something like Sweetwater Abilene. Lead singer and guitarist J.R. Top crafts songs about rural heartbreak and Midwest ennui all the while delivering them with vocals that range from syrup smooth to stridently raccous. Along with veterans of the Springfield music scene Michael St. John on bass and Brian Azevedo on drums, Sweetwater Abilene has made a name for itself as a hardworking band that delivers every time. Sweetwater Abilene is a band that knows where it’s been and has an eye for where it is going. -Jordan M. Shively

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/9/2005
Band Website: E-mail: [email protected]
Band Members: J.R. Top (Guitar, Vocals), Brian Azevedo (Drums), and Jeb Stuart (Bass)
Influences: Havalina, Pedro the Lion, Danielson Famile, Neil Young, Tony Joe White, Damien Jurado, James Brown, Desmond Dekker.
Sounds Like: The craziness of the midwest.
Record Label: www.co-optrecords.com
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Sweetwater Abilene and the Sufjan Stevens X-mas song exchange.

Hey everbody, just wanted to post this, just found this out a day or so ago.  We entered a song called, "Crappy Sweater" into the Sufjan X-mas song exchange, and while we didn't win, we did make ...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:33:00 PST

Help with December Tour

Alright folks, here are the details.I'm trying to book a small tour of the ol' midwest in December, here are the dates we have, and here are the dates I'm trying to fill in various cities, if you have...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:57:00 PST

Giant ate the Rainbow, now nationally available!!! @ www.co-optrecords.com and Itunes

Hey everbody!  The Giant ate the Rainbow is now officially released through Co-Opt Records, so you can either order a copy online or download what you want from any major music site.  (Itune...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:53:00 PST

Connelly Shows, College Press Begins.

Hey y'all. Big ups to the KY3 newsteam (especially Cara Connelly) and everybody else who came to the show at Big Momma's last night. We're getting ready to start the college radio promotion through ...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 02:48:00 PST

We finally got the full pressing!!!

Guess what denizens of Springfield!   We now have more official copies of "The Giant Ate the Rainbow" for sale.  You can get them at our shows, or C.D. Warehouse on Glenstone.
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Fri, 11 May 2007 02:12:00 PST

Christmas time and Photos...

Hey everybody, Merry Christmas, and all the other holidays.  The Giant ate The Rainbow is officially out and released.  We've got some pictures taken from that show on Dec. 15th up in the pi...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:36:00 PST

The Album is Mastered, and the Artwork almost finished.

The title tells the story.
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Sat, 28 Oct 2006 05:00:00 PST

THE ALBUM IS MIXED!!!

Final touches have been put on the new album "The Giant ate the Rainbow" and we will be mastering this week.
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:31:00 PST

Album Progress...

    During my two weeks on the freedom tour (Some might call unemployment) We have made significant progress on the new album, so be looking for it around June.  Maybe even a coupl...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Mon, 08 May 2006 10:28:00 PST

New album in the works.

Hey everybody, haven't updated in a long while.  Well, we're still playing show in Springfield, MO a lot.  However we are slowly working on a new album called, "The Giant ate The Rainbow" an...
Posted by Sweetwater Abilene on Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:05:00 PST