Bitter:Sweet, The Ditty Bops, and Billy Bragg

Before I begin this blog, I want to invite readers to post comments and suggestions about what you may want to read about the how, what, why, or whatever of bringing you the live music sessions you hear on Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Last month saw a typical eclectic line-up for our in-studio performances, featuring three distinctive and unique musical styles.

First, Bitter:Sweet returned for their second live session at KCRW, performing songs from their sophomore album, Drama.


Bitter:Sweet is, of course, the project of duo Kiran Shanani and Shana Haligan.  They brought in Davey Cheqwiggen on drums and percussion,  Carol Robbins on harp, DJ LC (Leonard Crowsky), and Patrick Bailey on guitar.

Kiran is the producer extraordinaire of Bitter:Sweet, and plays bass.  Shana is the lovely femme fatale vocalist who is the duo's lyricist/songwriter, and also plays keyboards.  "Drama" shows that Bitter:Sweet has not missed a beat (bad pun intended) from their enormously successful debut album, "The Mating Game".  Their quirky take on electronic music still has some of that cinematic 60's vibe, but Kiran has demonstrated an evolving palette of sounds and arrangements.  They slimmed down the size of the live ensemble by half, pulling this session off with just 6 musicians.  The first time they were here, in 2006, the studio was cramped with 12 people.





Of particular interest to me in this session was the vintage guitar that Patrick brought in.  A classic!  The Harmony Stratotone.


This was the guitar that spread throughout America in the 1950's and 60's, and could be found in just about every dorm room around the country.  It was cheap, and was distributed under many different names, including "Silvertone", which was sold through the Sears catalog for about 50 bucks.


Yes.  It was a cheap guitar, but it sounded great.  Noteworthy was the size of the neck, which felt more like the barrel of a Louisville Slugger than the slender neck of a Fender Strat.


Next up was one of our favorites duos, The Ditty Bops.   This marks the third session in our studio for Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett.  Today, they brought in bassist, Kaveh Rastegar to compete the trio.


The Ditty Bops'  music defies genre.  A sort of jazzy folk, but that doesn't really capture what it is.  What is clear, is that these two are amazing song writers with tight vocals that blend like siblings.  Abby plays guitar, while Amanda strums the ukulele and mandolin --- and also taps out rhythms on percussion.  The girls have often said that one of their biggest influences is the pre World War II era singing group, The Boswell Sisters.
Well, today we finally got to hear them do a Boswell Sisters cover, Crazy People.


Mixing a talented acoustic trio like this one requires mostly staying out of their way.   While you may notice each instrument close mic'ed, I also blended in stereo overheads to unify the sound.  If you've never had the pleasure of listening to The Ditty Bops, do yourself a favor and check out this session.  And by all means, don't pass up the opportunity to see them live.  This music will put a smile on the face of the most ardent sourpuss.


And finally,we were graced with yet another icon,  the master of the political anthem, Billy Bragg.  

Billy played a solo set with acoustic and electric guitar.  Check out this thoughtful session here:


Here is a sample of the set, the poignant "I Keep Faith".



Ray Guarna

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