Scott Abels is an accomplished musician, producer, songwriter born and raised in Fresno, California. He has many years studying and working within different genres of music ranging from Ska, Reggae, Soul, Funk to Alternative Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz and beyond. With an impressive resume playing and recording with contemporary groups like the Aggrolites, Hepcat, and Tim Armstrong, Scott has also been involved in collaborations with vintage artists, most notably Jimmy Cliff on his 2013 Grammy award winning album, “Rebirth.”
He works consistently on different projects including playing drums with Angel City Records instrumental reggae group “Thee Hurricanes,” but now takes center stage releasing his solo material that he has recorded and stored away in the vaults of his studio for many years. After hearing a few of the tracks Scott shared with us one afternoon, we we’re floored with the work he had single-handedly written, and arranged, while playing every instrument on each track. Ska tunes reminiscent of compositions by Roland Al & the Soul Bros and progressive reggae tunes giving 1960’s reggae group, the Hippy Boys a run for their money.
As Scott has been working with Angel City Records since its insurrection, we have seen his unique ability to take a core product, run with it and develop it into something all his own. His deep passion for the art of creating music, drive him to deliver top notch sounds that stand amongst the most authentic takes on 1960’s era Ska, Rocksteady, and Reggae music in the world. Angel City Records is extremely proud to welcome Scott Abels solo project "STAHL" to the stable of artists. Scott Abels first release “Bring It On Back,” is Blue Beat inspired tune Prince Buster would have been proud to release, paired with a rip roaring Ska thriller instrumental entiled “the Maiyan Empire.” His follow up release was a collaboration with Jamaican Rocksteady duo, Keith & Tex with a an original compostion entitled "Solid As A Rock" paired with a rocksteady monster intrumental entitled "Pripyat." Stahls newest release is out now with a tune entitled "Fukushima" featuring famed Jamaican Skatalites saxophonist Karl Bryan on the A-side. The flipside is a beauty entitled "Pearl" featuring Fresno based sax player Jim Smchidt. In 2018, we will see Stahl release two new singles plus a full length album to wrap up the year..Stay posted for more details.