Education
Abts attended high school in Panama where he started playing music
Abts attended high school in Panama where he started playing music
After moving to Virginia, he played in local bands for eight years and then moved to Florida. There he played in and recorded an album with Chuck & John and the News, a local bar band from Bradenton, during the early 1980s. In 1984, he took on the role of drummer for Dickey Betts and Chuck Leavell.
Abts recorded Pattern Disruptive with the Dickey Betts Band in 1988 which also included guitarist/vocalist, Warren Haynes.
Abts joined Haynes and Allen Woody who had both been musicians with The Allman Brothers Band to form Government"t Mule in 1994. Abts has also played in the Pink Floyd tribute band Blue Floyd which was known for its blues versions of Pink Floyd songs, and with bassist Jorgen Carlsson in Planet of the Abts, a 2011 offshoot of Government"t Mule.