Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

I.B. Strong

Rock trio Abner represents for the South Bay

Abner’s Adam Baez (center) remembers his touring years with Fuzz-Huzzi and one particularly nasty night in Idaho: “Some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.”
Abner’s Adam Baez (center) remembers his touring years with Fuzz-Huzzi and one particularly nasty night in Idaho: “Some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.”

“We recorded our first EP in May at King’s Ransom Studios in Lakeside with Jeff Sers, who’s been fighting cancer for the past couple years,” says Adam Baez, one-third of the grungy goth rock trio Abner. “For a moment there, I thought I would never have a chance to work with Jeff again, which is partially why this project means so much to me.”

Baez was still a teen when he joined the student-manned Fuzz-Huzzi, as well as playing with a later spin-off group called Freak the Mighty. “I started writing songs when I was around 19, and a mentor of mine at the time came to me one day super-excited, as if he had some news. He was a very tall Italian gentleman in his later years of life who was passionate about the ideas he would come up with. He was ecstatic to tell me about a dream that came to him. In this dream, he saw me on a big dark stage with a bright spotlight on me performing as the singer of a band called Abner. He was insistent on trying to persuade me to front a band and call it Abner.... Since I was playing second guitar in a band already, I promised him that if I were to ever start singing in a band, I would name it Abner. It saddened me to later learn of his passing, but I never forgot the promise I made to try and make his vision come true.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Abner and Fuzz-Huzzi

The EP-release party at Lestat’s on September 3 will be the band’s second gig. “Since we’re from Imperial Beach, we invited Allen Camp’s current version of Fuzz-Huzzi to join us, so I.B. is going to be representing strong!”

Baez has fond memories of touring with Camp’s ever-evolving ensemble. Mostly, anyway. “One of the worst gigs we ever played was in a small town in northern Idaho. Some of the locals weren’t too fond of us because we were from California. Also, some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.

“Though we did make some fans that night, a brawl ended up breaking out, forcing us to throw all of our equipment in the van and head out of town.” Abner’s new track, “Early This Morning,” can be streamed exclusively on their Reader band page through September 3.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Abner’s Adam Baez (center) remembers his touring years with Fuzz-Huzzi and one particularly nasty night in Idaho: “Some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.”
Abner’s Adam Baez (center) remembers his touring years with Fuzz-Huzzi and one particularly nasty night in Idaho: “Some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.”

“We recorded our first EP in May at King’s Ransom Studios in Lakeside with Jeff Sers, who’s been fighting cancer for the past couple years,” says Adam Baez, one-third of the grungy goth rock trio Abner. “For a moment there, I thought I would never have a chance to work with Jeff again, which is partially why this project means so much to me.”

Baez was still a teen when he joined the student-manned Fuzz-Huzzi, as well as playing with a later spin-off group called Freak the Mighty. “I started writing songs when I was around 19, and a mentor of mine at the time came to me one day super-excited, as if he had some news. He was a very tall Italian gentleman in his later years of life who was passionate about the ideas he would come up with. He was ecstatic to tell me about a dream that came to him. In this dream, he saw me on a big dark stage with a bright spotlight on me performing as the singer of a band called Abner. He was insistent on trying to persuade me to front a band and call it Abner.... Since I was playing second guitar in a band already, I promised him that if I were to ever start singing in a band, I would name it Abner. It saddened me to later learn of his passing, but I never forgot the promise I made to try and make his vision come true.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Abner and Fuzz-Huzzi

The EP-release party at Lestat’s on September 3 will be the band’s second gig. “Since we’re from Imperial Beach, we invited Allen Camp’s current version of Fuzz-Huzzi to join us, so I.B. is going to be representing strong!”

Baez has fond memories of touring with Camp’s ever-evolving ensemble. Mostly, anyway. “One of the worst gigs we ever played was in a small town in northern Idaho. Some of the locals weren’t too fond of us because we were from California. Also, some of the locals were openly racist and adamant about making it known.

“Though we did make some fans that night, a brawl ended up breaking out, forcing us to throw all of our equipment in the van and head out of town.” Abner’s new track, “Early This Morning,” can be streamed exclusively on their Reader band page through September 3.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why did Harrah's VP commit suicide last summer?

Did the fight the Rincon casino had with San Diego County over Covid play a part?
Next Article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader