JAM poll win inspires Abi Permenter to make more, better music

ALBANY — If nothing else, there’s one key thing Abi Permenter will take away from her Solo Artist victory in the Albany Herald JAM Favorites Poll.

After a period of struggles that saw her come to define the cliched “starving artist” term, Permenter has found new hope in kicking her career back into high gear.

“This was a humbling, eye-opening experience,” Permenter said of receiving an astounding 6,084 votes during the 10 days of voting in the poll finals. She needed all of those votes to hold off Ann Cline, who received 5,987. The two singers’ totals were second- and third-highest among all finalists in the poll.

“I didn’t expect so many votes or so many people to promote me in the poll. Now I don’t know how I couldn’t come away with the impetus to make more and better music. Now, at least, I don’t feel like I’m alone in this.”

Permenter’s 2014 was filled with the highest of highs and lowest of lows for any musician trying to find a niche in the ever-changing music business. Along with co-singer/songwriter Travis Mackey, she made it to the finals of an Atlanta-based battle of the bands competition, claiming the Staff Favorite award after performing at Masquerade. She also made the 11-hour car ride to St. Louis to perform with Athens-by-way-of-Binghamton, New York, alternative rock pioneers Five-Eight.

But there was also a four-month dry spell with no gigs during which time she had her cellphone turned off and had to move back in with her parents.

“The one thing I came out of 2014 knowing is I can’t live like this,” Permenter, 23, who has been a favorite on the Albany and Columbus music scenes for the past five years, said. “When you’re actually hungry, that ‘starving artist’ thing is not a joke.

“When you don’t know when your next gig will be, even when you have a little money you’re still broke. You get to the point that you have to realistically start looking at other career opportunities. I’ll be honest: At the end of 2014, I was depressed. I didn’t know where I was going to go.”

But Permenter’s song “Execution,” which was one of three she and Mackey performed at the battle of the bands competition, was selected for inclusion in a U.S. Army training video that will be used at Fort Benning, and she is recording another original (“Escape”) as a promotional single that is expected to be the centerpiece of a planned new album.

“I have some gigs around Albany (Mellow Mushroom, May 9 and June 19; Austin’s May16), and I’m working with the guys at Mayfield Studios (in Lee County) to get ‘Escape’ finished,” she said. “I want to get it done and either give it away to promote my work or to be part of my next album. I’m excited to get it written, to get a strong female vocal out there.

“I’m trying to get with an agent who can help me pursue larger opportunities. I think I have the talent. It’s a matter of getting that one big break everyone dreams of.”

Permenter wants the kind of opportunity she had in St. Louis with Five-Eight.

“That was one of those things that just kind of fell into place,” she said. “Their manager wanted to get them a show at the (now-closed) Foxhole in Columbus. I played there regularly, so I talked with the manager and he booked them for a show. They paid me back by booking me to play a show with them in St. Louis. That turned out to be such a blast.

“A friend of mine’s mom lived near the venue, so we stayed with her and she spoiled us. At the venue, it felt like being the real deal. Playing with a labeled artist, we were given the treatment that you read about musicians getting. It was surreal. I definitely left wanting more.”

Which, of course begs the question: Where do you go now?

“I wish I knew,” Permenter said. “I’m trying to expose myself, get my name out there, but it’s literally a waiting game at this point. I do know, though, that even if I don’t end up with a full-time career in music, music will always be a part of my life. I lost my voice for a short time, and not being able to sing really affected me.

“I won’t stop singing and playing music. It’s part of who I am. For now, I’ll keep trudging on.”