Abe Partridge + Jack Barksdale
Abe Partridge is a heralded musician, singer/songwriter, visual artist, and podcaster based in Mobile, Alabama. His 2018 debut, Cotton Fields and Blood For Days earned him rave reviews, with Tony Paris saying in The Bitter Southerner: "He plays guitar the same way he writes lyrics, bashing the strings with abandon until they are just about to come loose, then beautifully picking the notes until every last word falls into place. More to the point, Partridge writes to make you sit up and think. He wants to jar your reality. Sometimes, his lyrics are sly and subtle. Sometimes they come at you with a roar and thunder, as if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were approaching, and the heavens were opening up to herald a warning."
Since the release of his debut, Partridge has toured relentlessly, including several tours of the Netherlands and the U.K. developing a reputation for moving, passionate, and sometimes comedic, performances at prestigious songwriter festivals such as 30A Songwriters Festival, Frank Brown Songwriters Festival, and Americanafest. He is a regular at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. He has performed on the syndicated radio programs, Mountain Stage and Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. He has shared the stage with Morgan Wade, Paul Thorn, Steve Poltz, Dan Bern, Jerry Joseph, Glen Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket), Tommy Stinson, Shawn Mullins, John Fullbright, and more.
Most recently, Partridge and co-producer Ferrill Gibbs released the Alabama Astronaut podcast, where they explore songs previously undocumented at churches in Appalachia. The podcast finds Partridge chatting with Holiness preachers and looking into the practice of snake handling. It was in the Top Ten documentary podcasts on Apple Podcasts within days of its release and now has over 40k downloads and a 4.9-star rating.
When Partridge is not writing or touring, he is also a highly acclaimed visual artist. His paintings, primarily acrylic on tarred board and watercolors, now hang in art galleries around the southeast and in the private collections of Tyler Childers, Mike Wolfe (American Pickers), Rick Hirsch (Wet Willie), and Tommy Prine. His artwork was featured in Stephen King’s 2019 sequel to The
Shining - Dr. Sleep. He painted the cover art for Charlie Parr’s, Last Of The Better Days Ahead (Smithsonian Folkways). He also created art for Tyler Childers’ 2022 release, Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?
American Songwriter Magazine said, “Abe Partridge has established himself as one of the most respected songwriters and visual folk artists in the southeast.”
In November of 2022, Partridge released the EP Alabama Skies on Baldwin Co. Public Records label which includes "Abe Partridge’s 403d Freakout". Partridge told Songfacts the story behind the song: " 'Abe Partridge's 403d Freakout' was a song I wrote in about 20 minutes. It took me two weeks to make it rhyme, and then it took me about six months to learn it. I just sat and wrote a couple of pages of thoughts as they came to me. It was my attempt at describing my thoughts chronologically as they sometimes occur in my head before I filter them. It is those thoughts that I often have if I allow myself to mentally wander."
American Songwriter wrote “Jack Barksdale has insights and awareness far beyond people twice his age, and he’s able to put them into songs that touch listeners." NPR.org said “Jack Barksdale is special.” and Twangville added, “It’s hard to escape the impressive maturity of his musicianship and songwriting.”
Jack Barksdale is a 17 year old folk/Americana singer/songwriter from Texas. Inspired by folk, rock, and blues legends, Jack started performing original music at the age of nine and has already shared the stage with Wynonna Judd, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Junior Brown, John Fullbright, and Hayes Carll.
Recently Jack signed a record deal with Truly Handmade Records, formed by the estate of Guy Clark. Jack will release a full length album under Truly Handmade Records in June of 2025 featuring many notable guest artists. In September 2024 Jack released his 2nd EP “Out of Order and in October 2023 Jack launched a 7 song instrumental EP entitled Phantom Trails.”
His previous single “Gone" has garnered well over 2.8 million streams on Spotify and was featured on Apple Music’s ‘Southern Craft’ playlist.
In 2020 Jack launched a podcast focused on songwriters and songwriting called Jack Barksdale's Roots Revival Podcast.
Jack tours nationally and wows audiences with lyrics wise beyond his years. Jack plays guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano, and ukulele, but identifies first and foremost as a songwriter.
His musical influences include Lead Belly, Howlin’ Wolf, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, and Willie Nelson.
