Born February 5, 1997 in Houston, Texas, It was destiny for rising star Abby Gough, to write and record a song for one of her biggest influences, country music legend Merle Haggard. “My father is a huge Haggard fan so I grew up listening to Merle Haggard and by the time I was eight years old, I knew every word to every Haggard song.” Laughing, Abby says “Not too many of my friends even knew who he was.” “Me & Merle” is just one of seven original songs on Abby’s first CD, Southern Fire Angel, released March 31, 2012.
When Abby appeared on a CBS affiliate station, KHOU-Channel 11 Houston, The Deborah Duncan Show, for the first time in October of 2011, she described her own music as an acoustic country sound with a little outlaw country. Abby describes her music as “a mix of good traditional country music with a progressive sound”. “I still love the old classics and have even included a couple of them on my CD. I gave my sound to two old classics: “Sweet Dreams” by Patsy Cline and “Empty Glass” by Gary Stewart.” Abby appeared again on The Deborah Duncan Show again in March, 2012.
Abby started to sing when she was just 8 years old in her church. Since that time, she has performed on stage at many different local venues. Abby’s father and grandfather, both musicians and singers, have had a great influence on her life. “I watched them sing and play guitar as long as I can remember which is where my deep roots and great love for country music come from.” She picked up a guitar when she was eleven years old and taught herself to play. Abby began songwriting when she was only thirteen years old and finished her first CD at fourteen years old. "I have been performing for so long now that I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t. This is my dream! I have known this since the first time I performed in front of the audience.”