Former Clinton residents work on music videos
New video should be out by summer
May 16, 2009
By Samantha Pidde

Two men who grew up in the Clinton area are making music and getting recognition in their band, 25 Smokin Figurados.

Gregg Kirk graduated from Clinton High School in 1980. Tim Abbott graduated from Camanche High School in 1974. The two of them first met in 1978 while they were both playing in Clinton. Their friendship continued after Abbott moved to Texas in 1981. Kirk then moved to the East Coast.

Over the years, both men continued pursuing music. Abbott was involved in several bands until 1996, when he took a little break from song writing. In 2001 Abbot began writing and making music again and started thinking about a band with him and Kirk together. He said he prefers co-writing with Kirk and putting his songs through the "Gregg filter." From this idea, 25 Smokin Figurados was born.

Both men are fans of cigars and decided to work cigars into the band. A good deal of the music contains cigar-related imagery. Kirk said recently the band has really taken off. In November, they released their debut album, "Divine Spirits, Holy Smoke." Kirk said this 10-track album has received a good amount of positive responses. The band was also feature in Smoke Magazine. Kirk said they were also happy to have been recognized by the Austin Music Awards.

Recently, the band has been working on music videos for several of their songs. A video for their song "I Wash It Down," was recently finished and can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/25smokinfigurados.

A video for "Died Tonight" may be out as early as this summer and a video for "Keep It Simple" should be out sometime this year.

Kirk said one of 25 Smokin Figurados' biggest advantages may be its unique sound. The group's music has influences of heavy metal, classic rock and jazz.

"We're not just one genre. We don't just play one kind of music," said Kirk, adding, "We just started writing what came to us."

Abbott said the band has recently laid down tracks for seven songs for a second CD which will probably be out in January 2010. He said because the two of them live on opposite sides of the country, recording music and planning events can be more difficult and take longer.

Both Abbott and Kirk would like to return to Clinton to perform music. Abbott said they are looking for ways to share their music and possibly help the community they both came from and were first inspired in.

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