by Sylene Argent
In 2017, singer/songwriter, Abbey Neves, performed in her first solo gig in Essex Centre during the Tune Up the Parks Concert series. She returned to the Heritage Gardens Park last Wednesday evening to show her Essex-based supports just how much she has grown as a performer in the last year.
Neves enjoys singing, and has been participating in competitions since she was little.
“I love performing. I don’t ever consider it a job” she said. “I have been performing for as long as I can remember. I was singing with making noises before I could talk.”
Her setlist included mostly country songs last Wednesday evening, but she threw in a few pop songs, too. Though the 18-year-old performs mostly covers, she does sneak in an original or two into her setlist to allow her listening audience to get a chance to not only hear her powerful voice, but get to experience her talents as a songwriter, as well.
During her set in Essex, Neves engaged the audience by inviting them to join her in singing.
Neves has released two Christmas albums, of which she wrote some of the songs herself and collaborated with her mother on others, and is set to start recording a praise and worship album in the fall, with a released date to be set in 2019. Some of her songs, including the single, “Timeless,” are available on iTunes.
Wednesday’s concert wrapped up Neves’s summer gig list, but she is looking forward to starting University, where she will begin studying developmental psychology.
Playing in the Arts, Culture, and Tourism (ACT) Committee’s Tune Up the Parks concert series has become one of Neves’s favourite places to perform.
“The crowd is just so supportive and it is more intimate,” she said.
At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5, Larry Affeldt, also known as Lawrence Hank, is scheduled to wrap up the Tune Up the Parks concert summer series.
Attendees are urged to bring their own lawn chair or blanket, and have the opportunity to provide a donation to the performer. Performances may change or be cancelled.