Louisville, KY (September 24, 2026)—Veteran live sound engineer/musician HB Abels died Wednesday after spending days in critical condition following a multi-vehicle Uber accident last Friday, September 18.
Ables was enroute to the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, Kentucky at the time of the three-car accident. Ejected from his Uber ride by the crash, Abel sustained a traumatic brain injury and extensive chest injuries, according to a GoFundMe campaign started for the engineer and his retired mother.
According to local CBS affiliate WLKY, Ables was due to mix the band Soil that day, though the band later disputed that in a social media post memorializing Abels, noting “the truth is he was doing a corporate gig and was in the area and he wanted to come out and see us and hang out.”
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Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Abels had long freelanced as a sound engineer and tour manager, working regularly with acts such as The Union Underground, Aesthetic Perfection, King Cherry, Spineshank, Julien-K and Soil, the latter two of which he was slated to work with on upcoming tours this fall.
In the wake of Abels’ passing, numerous artists memorialized their friend online. Spineshank posted, “We lost someone truly amazing today. You made everyone’s lives a little easier just by being you. You always had a smile on your face, were always the first one to lend a hand, and the list of good things we could say about you goes on and on.”
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In a post, Soil bassist Tim King recalled, “For us, he wasn’t just a Soundman/Tour Manager. He was a friend, a confidant, and all-around amazing human being that always put others before himself.”
Rachel Bello, bassist of indie rock act King Cherry, posted, “You were the best sound man/tour manager in the world but somehow an even better friend. I’ll remember you helping me pay for my dog’s surgery when I was a broke 22-year-old who moved across the country with nothing but her instruments. I’ll remember leaving my bass with you for a set up and you returning it to me with surprise custom skull knobs that I’ll cherish forever. I’ll remember you gifting me tickets to see one of my favorite bands, just last month. I’ll remember you learning about a song I loved, and me suddenly hearing it through the venue speakers right before we take the stage and you just smiling and nodding from a distance when I realized. I’ll remember you putting together furniture in my room while I laid down and scrolled on Tik Tok. I’ll remember so much about you but most importantly, how safe and comfortable you made me feel when I first landed in AZ, and how much I loved having you behind the sound board and in the van with us. I know you’ll be with us every time we step onto the stage, and I can truly say I will think about you every single day.”
