Abby Anderson: How Growing Up in a Big, Musical Family Shaped Her Personality
Abby Anderson's debut single, "Make Him Wait," may showcase the country singer's quiet wisdom, but Anderson will be the first to tell you that she has a big personality.
"The keys are definitely my main instrument ... but when it comes to the live show, it's pretty hard to keep me behind a piano, I gotta say," she tells the Boot with a laugh. "I gotta get up and dance and do my thing!"
Anderson's loud personality is in part a product of growing up in a large family: Anderson has six siblings, five sisters and one brother, and all of them grew up around music.
"All of us are [musically inclined]! Every single one of us," the singer recalls. "My parents put us all in piano lessons at the age of five, and the deal was that we couldn't quit until we graduated or we could read every hymn in the hymn book."
However, music wasn't Anderson's only hobby: She was also a strong athlete, and became the first girl to play on her middle school football team.
"I was such a tomboy in middle school," she explains. "I grew up playing sports. I'm very competitive, and that was a good experience because it taught me how to toughen up, how to get hit real hard and just keep on playing."
Being the only girl on the team didn't faze Anderson; in fact, it never occurred to her that the sport was "just for boys." The country singer explains that she had a strong role model -- her mother -- who taught her not to limit her goals because of her gender.
"I never thought of it like, 'Oh, I'm a girl, so I can't or don't do that,'" Anderson goes on to say. "I was gonna do what I wanted to do. My mom raised me that way.
"Being raised in a house with six girls, we were the ones outside mowing the lawn in 95-degree heat and humidity," she adds. "We were the ones pulling the weeds. We were the ones putting the shelves together and doing the other things 'that boys did.' What I learned from that is that I can do anything a guy can do, and a guy can do anything I can do -- well, except for having babies. They can't do that. So, in fact, we can do a whole lot more," she concludes with a laugh.
With the release of her first single, Anderson is gearing up for a busy summer of performances. She's currently on her radio tour in support of "Make Him Wait," which is now available for download on various platforms, and she will also be opening for Russell Dickerson, as well as playing a this year's CMA Fest. For more information, visit her website.
5 Things You Need to Know About Abby Anderson