Among those in the know, 17-year-old Irvine singer-songwriter Abbie Gordon is rapidly becoming one of the hottest young Scottish new-talent names to drop.
Turned on to the power of a great song at age 6 by Taylor Swift, Abbie’s love of performing found early outlets in dance and musical theatre. Locked down in 2020 and inspired by Taylor, Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzy McAlpine and Inhaler, she began playing around on piano and guitar and writing her own songs. Turns out she’s a natural, combining truthful, unaffected lyrics and flowing melodies with a voice that’ll stop you in your tracks.
“I love pop, indie and rock but I try not to limit myself to any genre of music,” says Abbie. “I just write based on how I’m feeling or what I’m inspired by at the time. Some songs are upbeat and some are slow and emotional but the lyrics are always honest and from my heart. They can be pretty raw but hopefully easy to relate to.”
Abbie’s first live shows, touring Scotland courtesy of new talent champions Hit The Road, came in January 2023, with word of mouth leading to gigs at Belladrum Festival, The Poetry Club, Glad Café, Room 2, The Bungalow and Sneaky Pete’s opening for artists as diverse as Luke La Volpe, ili, Forgetting The Future, Cortne, April Jai and Cara Hammond.
After making a big impact at her King Tut’s debut supporting Kerr Mercer at his sold-out show in March, Abbie returned for a triumphant headline show at the legendary crucible of new music in August as part of the venue’s 2024 Summer Nights series.
All this without releasing any music yet, but as a prolific songwriter, it won’t be too long.
“I’m really busy writing and I’ve been approached by some amazing artists and producers keen to co-write with me,” she explains. “I’m buzzing to work with new people and develop my songwriting skills in the process. I’ve put a couple of demos up on Soundcloud for people to hear and I’m really excited to release some new finished music into the world soon.”
