Solo act

Brendan Abernathy tried and failed to fit music into his career options. And then he decided making music was his only option.

By Stephanie Schupska

Brendan Abernathy (BA ’19) has just finished loading sound equipment into his already overstuffed car. It’s early October, and the Honors alumnus is driving somewhere in Texas, on his way to play a house show in Fort Worth, one of nine stops on his Texas momentum-building tour. He ended October with a Sofar Sounds show on Halloween and two house shows on St. Simons Island, where he mixed music with Georgia-Florida Weekend energy. Brendan barely had enough time to shout “Go Dawgs!” before heading into November and playing more house shows, a service event, a wedding rehearsal dinner, and his first headline show at the 40 Watt Club. Brendan is feeling a mixture of “living on the road is amazing” and “the music industry is exhausting.” The singer-songwriter and performing artist graduated from UGA in May with Highest Honors and his bachelor’s degree in economics. He stayed in Athens for the summer, continuing his job at the UGA Visitors Center and building momentum for a solo career he launched in April. He then slowly started traveling west in September. “I have a group of friends who are supporting me as a musician,” he said. “I’ve been going from friend to friend, staying on their couches, and playing intimate house shows for 20-40 people.” Brendan’s hope is to build buzz around his music. Peppered among the list of living room appearances, he’s also had two sold-out performances at the Georgia Theatre Rooftop. He pulls a following from his days as lead singer of the rock band Light Brigade, which was founded in a UGA dorm room in January 2016 and played its last show this past February at the Georgia Theatre. “In my music career, I’m ahead of where I should be,” he said. “I have good traction, a good following.” It took many failed attempts for him to reach this point. In his four years in Athens, Brendan changed his major eight times and studied abroad five times, exploring 13 countries in the process. In trying to figure out his future, he interned at a hospital, looked into a corporate job in consulting, and applied for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. “As I thought about each next step, each opportunity, what excited me about them was how I could use music in each of them,” he said. When he decided to pursue music full time, he shared his plans with the assistant directors of the Honors Program—Jessica Hunt and Maria de Rocher. Maria helped him with his Fulbright application, and Jessica “was my sage,” Brendan said. “She is a “I don’t wanna stand idly by and watch someone else live my dream... I want it to be me.” Brendan Abernathy “The Rat Race”

master of encouragement. She just sees things in people that we don’t see in ourselves. Jessica impacted my college experience as much as anyone.” Brendan points to relationships as the best part of the Honors Program. “Even though we have Fulbright and Rhodes and Truman and Churchill scholars, even though we have all these amazingly brilliant people, it’s the community and friendships in Honors that students hold in highest regard,” he said. “Being a solo artist, it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s really important to have people who have your back and unconditionally support you, and I’ve found my friends through Honors do that.” Brendan traces his love of singing back to when he was four; his parents have video evidence of his love for the limelight. He got his first guitar when he was six—he wanted to be like Jimmy Buffett. In middle school, he dropped music altogether, and his parents bought him a red Ibanez electric guitar in hopes that he would continue to play. After hearing Taylor Swift’s music and learning that she wrote all of her own songs, he started practicing chords in the bathroom, “unplugged so no one could hear,” he said. “I was 11 years old when I wrote my first song. I uncovered this art of songwriting, and it’s how I dealt with life. When other people were playing video games, I was writing songs.” He’s moved on from that electric guitar and now primarily plays acoustic guitar with his hands and a loop pedal with his feet, mixing in effects, harmonica, and keys as needed. On Nov. 19, Brendan performed at one of Athens’ most celebrated venues—the 40 Watt Club—and also dropped the last song of seven in his “Hope You Have” project. After the show, he was back in the studio recording more songs. In January, he plans to be on the road again, driving north toward Chicago and then west toward Colorado and Utah. He hopes to land in L.A. before reevaluating. “My purpose,” he said, “is to create music and content that instills a sense of hope and joy in my listeners and my music community so that they feel encouraged and inspired to pursue freedom and excellence and to dream again.”

Jessica Thompson is one half of Hotel Fiction

This past spring semester, UGA students Jessica Thompson and Jade Long started an indie pop band, played a sold-out debut show at the Caledonia Lounge, recorded and released their first song, Astronaut Kids, and changed their band name to Hotel Fiction due to copyright reasons.

It has been a busy year for Jessica, an Honors junior and Foundation Fellow majoring in psychology and statistics. She plays lead guitar and sings backup vocals for the band.

On a recent Tuesday, Hotel Fiction opened for Brendan Abernathy at the 40 Watt Club. The show is an extension of Muse UGA’s reach, not only in the local middle school community, but also in the local music scene.

Muse UGA’s main purpose is mentorship through music—to introduce middle schoolers to instruments like the guitar, piano, and ukulele. Most of the organization’s volunteers are also musicians. And when that many musicians get together, they form connections that reach beyond UGA.

“All these people are so involved in my life now, and those connections wouldn’t have been made if it hadn’t started with Muse,” Jessica said.

“As Hotel Fiction, we try to make music that speaks to people’s emotions. I wanted to start a band in college because I had been playing in one since I was 11. After my freshman year, I realized I was missing music more than I thought.”