Went with the bro to see the Ditty Bops tonight at the Folk Center. I won tickets through an e-mail contest. The Ditty Bops are led by Amanda and Abby, two perky young ladies with voices like angels.
The opening act was Ruth Barnett, mother of one of the Bops and a fine singer who has a rather extensive ouevre. She played dulcimer and bodhrain and sang old school folk songs. Many of her tunes were original and some were traditional. And some were traditional to which she added lyrics and melody. Amanda Bop apparently selected the songs of this set from her favorites. She and Abby joined Ruth on stage for harmonies on several tunes. A very warm set it was. It ended with a lullaby Ruth had written for Amanda Bop when she was just a wee bop. It was a lovely tune and it was especially nice to hear mother and daughter sing it together.
Come to think of it, it's pretty hard to write a bad lullaby, unless the Backstreet Boys have one that I don't know about.
Anyway, it was a lovely tune. Mother and daughter should be very proud of one another.
I gather from the website that a part of the Ditty Bop mystique is to have running themes in their shows. Many of their fans know this, which explained why I saw a few folks wearing eyepatches at a nearby Starbuck's before the show.
The Bops made their entrance in pirate regalia, with Amanda Bop's pirate hat taking on a life of its own.
The music reminded was kind of parlor/tin pan alley type of jazz. The style was subdued yet energetic. Abby Bop's guitar stylings were especially good. And the harmonies were tight and seductive. The Bop's voices blended sweetly together.
There were these two pirate themed instrumentals introduced by the fiddle player, a buckaneer named Scurvey Dan or something like that. They weren't exactly piratey, but they were really cool.
This concert made for a relaxing, fun evening. Having appeared with both Nickle Creek and Tori Amos, the Ditty Bops seem to be at the cusp of the height of their zenith. They are destined to grow in bopularity.
3 comments:
Looks like you hiccuped there, BABoR, just as you were about to post the DB's website.
It's thedittybops.com.
Great post, allowing for puns like "bopularity" of course. ;-)
HH
How'd you do that? I tried to fix it, but can't get the link to work.
Thanks, Howl! I sent the link to my daughter and she's been listening to the Dittybops practically nonstop ever since. We be dittyboppin' here.
Post a Comment