Singled Out: Bill Abernathy's Whiskey Road

Michael Angulia | 03-11-2020

Album cover art

Bill Abernathy tells us about his latest single "Whiskey Road", which comes from his "Crossing Willow Creek" album. Here is the story:

Whisky Road was born after night of catching up with an old friend I had not seen for several years. As with many catching up sessions, we talked about the good old days, parties we had been to, ladies we had met, and of course the times when we may have enbibed a bit too much. After the memories and laughs were winding down, we talked about where life had taken us over the past few years. This discussion is when the concept of Whiskey Road was born.

My friend had continued the wild and crazy days of our youth long into his adult life. He had become dependent on his love of the bottle. This dependency had caused him tons of drama including various car wrecks, DWI's, and wrecked his business career. Sadly, it had also cost him his marriage and severely damaged his relationships with his family and his kids. Hence the line "The Whiskey Road is like a lady of night. She'll rob you of all your riches but leave you feeling right" The "All Your Riches" line speaks to far more than just money clearly.

Many of the lines in the song came directly from his descriptions of his experiences during this time, and where that lifestyle had taken him in life. The final verse is really a direct quote from him.

"Don't you know there's lessons learned when you're living out on the road
Be sure it's all you want from life cause it's all you'll ever know
It's hard to turn away from that lonely drifter's code
But no one bears the blame on a Whiskey Road"

Many people and many friends have been, and some are still traveling on the Whiskey Road. Fortunately, this friend found his way off the road into a life that has helped him restore the important things in life, his relationships with his family and kids. Hopefully this tune may help others who are on this road realize that there is always hope for getting off the Whiskey Road, one day at a time.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself below and learn more about the album here