Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald Press Bio and Photos

The Ditty Bops

Tunefully disarming and unapologetically out of sync with the times…
casually celebrates swing-era sounds and innocence with playful zest.
-Washington Post

The Ditty Bops are a breath of fresh air. Combining styles as diverse as
jazz, blues, folk and ragtime with honest (and often humorous) lyrics,
the Los Angeles-based female duo is accessibly eccentric.
-Billboard

The Bops are adventurous, spirited hybridizers, layering plinky
dulcimer, mandolin and guitar under their jaunty harmonies, and they
craft their songs the way tunesmiths used to do...”
- Newsweek

Since the release of their Grammy Award nominated album "Summer Rains," Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald - also known as The Ditty Bops - continue to bewitch their listeners with iridescent golden harmonies, playful storytelling, and a visionary lyrical worldview. Their music has been described as genre-defying, bearing influence of Western swing, ragtime, gypsy-jazz, pop, and vaudeville-era musical theater.

The duo is also well known for its elaborate live shows, which incorporate theatrical elements complete with props, costumes, and skits. Interview magazine says, “these vaudevillian vamps are putting the show back in showmanship.” They have been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brian, The Late Late Show with Craig Fergusson, The L Word, Extra, NPR’s All Things Considered, and A Prairie Home Companion, and have toured with diverse performers including Tegan and Sara, Tori Amos, and Nickel Creek. Their music has also appeared on ABC’s Gray’s Anatomy, Men in Trees, Ellen and in numerous films and commercials.

Abby DeWald (vocals, guitar) and Amanda Barrett (vocals, mandolin) see performance as just one facet of their artistry. As environmental activists, the girls creatively explore inspiring ways to live responsibly in today’s world. In 2006, they chose an unorthodox method to promote their sophomore album “Moon Over the Freeway.” Abby and Amanda hit the road for a four-month tour, traveling cross-country from Los Angeles to New York City solely by bicycle. They rode over 4,700 miles and performed 40 concerts along the way to promote clean air and cycling. For their efforts they were named as one of Billboard Magazine’s Top Ten Green Bands and received The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Roll Model Award.

In Spring 2007, they started the environmental nonprofit “You And I Save The World.” The group helped pass America’s first plastic bag ban in San Francisco, for which Abby and Amanda were presented with a certificate of honor from the city’s Board of Supervisors. The following Summer, they toured through farming communities across the country, to bring attention the struggles and achievements of family farmers. Their tour raised money for sustainable farmers and culminated with a performance at Willie Nelson’s nonprofit concert Farm Aid.

Back at home in Los Angeles, Abby and Amanda have reinvented their urban life - ditching their cars and converting their cement driveway into a living, edible garden, complete with organic fruit trees and dark leafy greens. Drawing inspiration from this, they wrote a new crop of songs for “Summer Rains,” in which life becomes an ongoing celebration of the regeneration of modern culture, offering a lullaby to a transforming living planet. A nostalgic throwback to times when record packaging was as exciting as the music itself, Abby and Amanda designed “Summer Rains” with elaborate pop-up art made from recycled materials for which they were nominated for a Grammy.

Since the release of “Summer Rains” Amanda and Abby have revived the creative spirit of their lifelong artistic partnership with a new self-titled art and music collective. The Amanda Barrett & Abby DeWald Music and Art Collective’s first project is their hauntingly beautiful six-song release “Songs For Steve.”

www.amandabarrettandabbydewald.com

For Booking, Publicity, Management ONLY contact :

dittybops@gmail.com

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PRESS PHOTOS

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