Singer/songwriter Abby Litman is an up-and-coming folk musician whose songs marry the lyrical traditions of American folk music with inventive acoustic arrangements and modern concepts. A graduate of USC’s Thornton School of Music, she released her debut album, Seasons, along with original artwork, in 2016, her single, The Garden, accompanied by an animated music video, in 2019, and has played in and curated shows across Los Angeles. She founded Good Folk, an LA-based concert series for local folk musicians, in 2017 and has featured more than thirty artists.
Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, Litman’s first foray into music started with classical piano lessons at the age of 6. Her dad, a Bob Dylan fanatic, made sure to supplement Chopin’s nocturnes with a healthy dose of Bob Dylan, and it didn’t take long until Abby was permanently hooked to Dylan’s gritty, honest, and mythic storytelling. Sneaking off with her dad’s Martin guitar, she began learning Dylan’s guitar parts by ear and notating her father’s edition of collected Bob Dylan lyrics. By high school, she was writing poetry and making her own songs. She learned to read and listen widely, from Nick Drake to Edna St. Vincent Millay to Joni Mitchell, whose soaring, arching vocal lines continue to serve as a measuring stick for her own.
In 2021, Abby worked with producer Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Margaret Glaspy, Andrew Bird) and recorded a 3-song EP that is scheduled to be released in spring 2022. These songs, revisited and recorded during a year and a half of lockdowns and quarantines, showcase Abby’s extensive range, knack for harmony, and penchant for heartfelt storytelling. Her sonically-rich playing accompanies her frank, searching lyrics that mirror the anxieties of her, and any other, generation: reckoning with uncertain truths, finding meaning in a world that always seems to be on the cusp of ending, and making the most out of a life that’s been put on hold.
