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Stephen Montoya
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Stephen Montoya
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Stephen Montoya
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Stephen Montoya
It’s nothing new for country artist Josh Abbott to find himself in a different recording studio on a daily basis. In fact, this is exactly where Abbott found himself last week when he made a quick stop by Cowtown to drop in and sing a few songs to an exclusive group of fans. But what made this stop stand out, is that the studio he was in, happened to be located on the first floor of a Hospital.
No, Abbott wasn’t there because of the stunning acoustics. Instead, he stopped by Cook Children’s Medical Center last week, to sing, hang out, and talk with patients and parents about how lucky he felt to be part of their day.
“It’s an honor to be asked to do something like this,” Abbott says as he faces a group of journalists attending the event. “I mean the fact that I’ve gotten to a position in my career that people think it’s cool that I showed up … it’s just really flattering and the least I can do.”
Before the cameras were set up to highlight the goodwill Abbott brought with him, he spent time decorating crafts and playing air hockey with several of the hospital’s young patients, only stopping to graciously take photos and sign autographs with anyone who asked.
One of the patients Abbott spoke to at length was 14-year-old Landon Nolty. If that name sounds familiar it’s because Nolty has sung at many local events including singing the National Anthem at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo last February. Nolty says he began singing as a way to cope with not being able to go outside and play with other kids his age when he was younger.
“When I was six, I was diagnosed with a rare disease called Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease,” he explained. “It basically made it to where I could not run or jump, I could only walk. So, when I came into Cook Children’s they had this studio, which inspired me to want to try and start following my dream of singing.”
Nolty said he is currently in the process of releasing his first album, an endeavor that gave him the edge on what questions to ask Abbott since he was picked as the interviewer for this event.
“I literally read all of these questions in the car ride over from school,” Nolty says while looking down at the floor with a smile. “It’s a music-related interview, plus I know Josh’s music so that should help.”
Nolty says having a big-name artist like Abbott take time out of his busy schedule to check in on the patients, parents, and staff means a lot to him and his family.
“I can hopefully gain some knowledge from his experiences in what he does since I am just starting out,” he says while sitting down at a huge drum that looks like a round table.
It was at this very table that Nolty asked Abbott every question he had prepared in a live broadcast that went out on the Cook Children’s internal network. When they were finished, they both picked up the drumsticks and gave the drum table a few obligatory thuds. It was from there that Abbott walked down the hall to the commons area to sing a selection of songs from his over-a-decade-long career.
“I really started out playing because I wanted to contribute to my fellowship service at church and I liked Willie Nelson and Pat Green,” he explained to Nolty. “I learned three chords on an old nylon string guitar and began playing other people’s music until one day I found the courage to create a song of my own. Since then, that’s all I’ve been doing.”
Originally from Lubbock, Abbott founded his band (the Josh Abbott Band) while attending Texas Tech University in 2006. The band recorded its debut album “Scapegoat” in 2008 and hit the road never to look back.
“It’s been an amazing journey for me to get to where I am,” Abbott says. “I am just happy I have opportunities like this to pay it forward.”
