Abri grew up in the picturesque city of Cape Town, South Africa, and was blessed with a family of painters and authors who instilled in him and his two younger brothers an appreciation of the arts. Their small ears would soak up stories of the East African bush tales where his mother was born before moving to South Africa. These tales were later caught on film as the blockbuster movie Out of Africa, as this was his Mum’s family and their biography.

At the age of 9, Abri received the mystical gift of hearing the Byrd’s version of the Dylan classic, Tambourine man with its’ shimmering 12 string Rickenbacker guitars. In that moment a new legend was born. Well, in his mind anyway.

Abri immediately set out to write his own version of the otherworldly song which was called Kaleidoscope Sky, and although he has written hundreds of songs since, Abri was never able to better it. Abri spent the following years listening to and learning from the master songwriters Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, John Denver, Cat Stevens, and James Taylor to name a few.

At the age of 18, Abri boarded a greyhound bus with his sights set on the bright lights of Johannesburg where he was sure to find fame and fortune. From there, he started the first of a series of bands culminating with The Lemmings which would last 15 years, record 5 cds and tour the world.

Abri was also fortunate to spend many years working as a composer for the legendary Sun City, in South Africa, where he was responsible for scoring the Cirque du Soleil styled Odyssey. In 2009 Abri left South Africa for Los Angeles, California where he has spent the last 10 years pursing a solo career. He now splits his time between Canada and California.