By: Chris ”Chaos” Hedden
Saving Abel
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Formed in 2004 Saving Abel rose to fame with hit songs like “Addicted,” “The Sex Is Good,” “18 Days” and more. Having joined tours with groups like Nickelback and Papa Roach the band has amassed a loyal following that continues to support the group today. Despite some line up changes Saving Abel has remained consistent with their sound and touring. Their high energy stage shows bring to life the music that fans across the country are still eager to see. In preparation for the bands upcoming show on 8/30/19 at Operation Music Fest in Anderson, SCfounding member Jason Null took some time to speak with Behind The Pic.
BTP: So judging by your Facebook calendar, Youtube, and website, it looks like you guys have been pretty busy.
Jason: Yeah, we stay busy man. There for a few years when Jared quit, I really didn’t know what was going to happen. We hired Scotty and Steven and we made a record breaking year. We have played with hundreds of bands throughout the world. We’ve cut down the last few years. The main thing this year is you’re not seeing us out like we used to be and that’s because we are working on a record. This record will be back with Skidd Mills, which is our original producer. This will be our first, what I would say “REAL” record with Scotty as our singer.
BTP: We got you all coming into town for the Operation Music Fest out of Anderson, SC with 20 other bands, are yall excited about that?
Jason: We are all very excited about that, especially because I love to do festivals and stuff like that. It’s kind of like a field trip, you know when you are a kid. Our every day is routine is like a class room which is the bar/ theatre something like that conversion, but whenever we have a festival or something outside there always seems to be a lot of times when there will be people there that we have played with before so it’s kind of like a “Family Reunion”. We enjoy it!
BTP: So what can the fans expect to see from Saving Abel at Operation Music Fest? What is something that will be done that will set you apart from the other bands?
Jason: Man, the only thing I can tell you that sets us apart from most bands is we do have that “Southern Swagger”, we’re a Rock & Roll Band. There are a lot of bands from the South but when we put this together, we purposefully looked for pickers and players and that sound to keep that southern rock sound alive. I think you will hear a lot of that in just the pronunciation of the words and the way Scotty sings, to the guitars between me & Scott Bartlett. I think that is the biggest difference between us and most Rock & Roll bands today is that we still have that southern sound.
BTP: Will you have any Meet & Greet passes that day for the fans?
Jason: I know online for our personal shows, we do offer a personal meet and greet where we will actually sit down and sign some posters, take a picture, and do a song for you acoustically. Now when it comes to festivals, that normally all falls back to the people running the festival. If we are asked to do a meet and greet, of course we will.
BTP: We are going to have bands like Sebastian Bach, Bret Michaels, and Kentucky Head Hunters. Who are you looking forward to seeing the most?
Jason: “OH, the head hunters are there too?!” Oh yes, this will be a good show for sure. You will get a double dose of some southern rock. I’d like to see the Head Hunters. I grew up on all that stuff though, I was an 80’s kid so like Poison and Warrant and all these bands like that I just love. Bret is a super super nice fellow, we have played with them multiple times throughout the years. I’ve sang with him on stage, played “Nothin’ But A Good Time” with him on his personal guitar on stage so I am always looking forward to being with him and if we are close by we will usually get up and do something with him and he enjoys it just as much as we do.
BTP: What would you say to the “Little Rockers” in the crowd that want to be just like you and how to be sucessful in the music industry?
Jason: Practice, Practice, Practice. You have to know the tools you are dealing with, if you want to build a house you have to know how to use the tools you are going to need to work with. Many of nights, I can remember I would wake up to Mom calling me for school and I would have to pull my guitar off of me to get out of bed. As you get a little older and a little more serious, one thing that I missed the most about the whole thing was that it is a real business and it has to be treated that way. You have to treat it that way from day 1 and once I started doing that I started opening doors and we signed our first contract about a year later.
BTP: Jason, I appreciate you taking time to speak with me today. Myself and all of Anderson look forward to seeing you guys perform this weekend and to the upcoming new music as well.
