music Biography

   "Albert moves to Austin in hopes of hooking up with Double Trouble"

                              Albert Crabtree - Born to the Blues

Albert Crabtree started playing guitar when he was 9 years old, and by the time he was 15, he was playing professionally with older musicians in shopping centers and beltline lounges around Lexington, KY. In 1969, he filled in briefly for The Exiles and went on to perform many concerts at the University of Kentucky, where he was enrolled.  Raised at the crossroads of Americana, Al was inspired by the Cream and Hendrix, and the British rock invasion, and by American favorites Joe Walsh (James Gang) and Jim McCarty (Detroit Wheels). At 21, Albert was a versatile and accomplished player. Having played in Bluegrass, Soul, and Blues bands, he left the University of KY, packed his Les Pauls and Strats and moved to New York City to live his dream in the Bohemian art world of the early 1970's.

                      East Coast/West Coast - the Blue Moon years

In New York City, Albert was launched into the art and music scene by playing lead guitar for Eric Emerson, a Warhol film star and great musician, who was a celebrity in the NY underground circuit. The parties didn't stop Albert from studying vocals with Carlos Menotti at his studio in the top of Carnegie Hall and enrolling in The Boston School of Electronic Music after he bought a 54 module Aries synthesizer and started studying and composing electronic music.

1975 was a big year for Albert. He built the Blue Moon Rehearsal Studio on 38th street, where he lived for 14 years. He played regularly in clubs in and around NY and down the East Coast and got several write-ups. He recorded the first of his eight CDs

at Sound Works & Electric Lady studios: Cold Steel/ Metal in the First Degree.  It’s still considered a cult classic and a must have for fans of scorching guitar solos.

After surviving the disco wave, Al moved to LA in 1985 and was bi-coastal for two years.  In LA he started Blue Moon West and produced his second CD: The Welding Company. In 1986 Albert was chosen from over 500 applicants, scoring the first Fender Guitar Commercial to air on MTV International. His picture was featured in print & posters in music stores across America and around the world. Two years later, tired of the LA club scene, Al returned to NYC, dissolved the old Blue Moon Studio and built another place on Franklin Street where he recorded his third CD: Killer Crack. This CD was composed entirely in NYC and has several "world beat" tunes. The title track is an anti-crack anthem, encouraging awareness of the epidemic he witnessed after returning from the Coast.  Enjoying the international recognition the Fender commercial generated, Al toured Germany twice, jamming with many fine international musicians, writing most of the new songs for his fourth CD: The Rascal, which he recorded after going back home to Lexington. There he started performing solo acoustic guitar and later sequencing keyboard rhythm tracks, deciding to move to Florida and pursue entertaining in upscale restaurants and hotels, and there he blossomed into a sophisticated lounge entertainer and "One Man Band".

                                  Sunny Florida - The Jazz

Al's arrangements of Nelson Riddle/Sinatra big band swing tunes are unique, adapting his vocal style, and adding tasty "swing" guitar solos. Inspired by the cosmopolitan jazz scene in South Florida, Al composed and recorded his 5th CD: The Phoenix, First Flight, featuring Ray Romar, a great tenor sax player. It garnered "4 star" reviews and gave him a steady following for 9 years in South Florida, especially in the Boca Raton and Palm Beach dinner club scene where he was credited as "best jazz ensemble". Al was house musician at Boca's New York Prime for over two years. Al's "one man band" actually has the most press. He was esplanade musician and features vocalist on many Starships including Disney's, The Big Red Boat and the Carnival's Sensation and Inspiration.

  Albert is currently in his home town Lexington, Kentucky where he is performing with his ROCK BAND and playing small bars and restaurants with his "one man band" featuring variety music from Buffett to Sinatra.