Jim Abel is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 born in Independence, Missouri

Independence, Missouri

Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

. He writes and performs a style of folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and alternative music, influenced by the American Songbook, Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...

, Tom Paxton

Tom Paxton

Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...

, and music of the '60s.

Abel began writing songs while attending Wheaton College

Wheaton College (Illinois)

Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...

, where he majored in philosophy. He subsequently received an MBA from Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

's Kellogg School of Management

Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management is the business school of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, downtown Chicago, Illinois and Miami, Florida. Kellogg offers full-time, part-time, and executive programs, as well as partnering programs with schools in China, India, Hong Kong, Israel,...

, where he was an Austin Scholar, and embarked on a successful career as an executive in the healthcare industry.

Abel left the corporate world in 1984 to manage his investments full-time and became a stay-at-home father to son Ted. In 2002 he began to focus more intensively on his musical career.

Abel writes, performs, and records a wide variety of music, including humorous and serious songs about love, friends, and family; political songs; parodies; and show tunes.

Abel plays regularly in venues in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 and surrounding communities. He has received a great deal of press attention including articles in The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...

, the Johnson County Sun, the Lee’s Summit Journal, The Topeka Capital-Journal

The Topeka Capital-Journal

The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas owned by Morris Communications. It has won one Pulitzer Prize.-History:...

, and 435 South magazine; TV coverage on KBMC TV9

KMBC-TV

KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...

 Evening News and WDAF TV4

WDAF-TV

WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...

 Midday News; and online coverage in The Pitch Wayward Blog, KansasCity.com Prime Buzz, KClightrail.com, and the Midwest Record.

Abel has released four independent albums: Live! from Death Valley Junction (2003); Patriot Act (2003); Decoration Day(2006); and Thunder (May 2008).

Abel lives in Leawood, Kansas

Leawood, Kansas

Leawood is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. The city is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 31,867.-History:...

, with his wife, Deborah Hays.