by Michael LelloWeekender Editor
Abby Ahmad’s story is one of transition. Moving from Dallas, Pa., to Pittsburgh and then New York City. Shifting between the theatre world and the music business.
It’s no coincidence, then, that Ahmad, who will perform at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Dec. 27, says her upcoming album, “Curriculum,” “showcases my personal growth.”
That journey started in the Back Mountain, where Ahmad’s parents introduced her to artists like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens. She dabbled in various instruments but began playing guitar at age 10, fueling her early songwriting.
While attending the University of Pittsburgh, Ahmad immersed herself in theatre and received awards for her acting and sound design/composing work, including the Helen Katz Award as the outstanding student in the theatre arts department.
In 2005, she moved to New York.
“It had been my dream since before I realized it could actually be a reality, from when I started writing songs and performing when I was 15,” says Ahmad. “Having the reality of it and seeing what that actually entails was at once disappointing and also very exhilarating. I knew I had something worthwhile, it was just figuring out how to get it out there.
“Talent is not enough. It’s equal parts drive, ambition and the product itself.”
It seems that Ahmad figured it out. In 2006, she put out her first studio-length album, “The Rearview” (she had previously released the acoustic EPs “The P.M. Peeps Sessions” and “Headcase” in 2002 and 2004, respectively.) Shortly after “The Rearview” came out, it caught the attention of movie director Andrew Davis, who included two of her songs, “Seven Year Itch” and “Tri-Me,” in the 2006 hit film “The Guardian.” “Tri-Me” also landed on the soundtrack.
“Curriculum,” which will be released early next year, got its start when she connected with Mark Marshall, her “current musical partner,” in New York. Marshall is also from Northeastern Pennsylvania, but the two had not previously met.
“The two of us decided to make a demo,” Ahmad recalls. “He’d been collaborating with Brooklyn producer Nathan Rosenberg. We decided to see if that would work, and the first demos were such a positive experience, we decided to make a full album.”
Ahmad, Marshall and Rosenberg co-produced “Curriculum,” which also features Clark Gayton, Steven Bernstein and Erik Lawrence. Combined, the three are the horn section for The Band’s Levon Helm, and as individuals, they’ve worked with heavyweights like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Leonard Cohen and Rufus Wainwright.
The performer, who cites Tori Amos, Patty Griffin, Leo Kottke and Nina Simone as influences, came up with the title of the new record after finding some similarities between the songs and her day job teaching music to preschool children.
“I noticed this recurring theme in the songs I’d been writing,” she says. “And I noticed these parallels with where we start to formulate our personality traits. The kids I work with are 2, 3 years old, and you can see where these kids are going to be.”
After returning to theatre in 2007, Ahmad was named “Actress of the Year” by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for her performance in the one-woman play “9 Parts of Desire,” which documents nine female perspectives on the Iraq war.
Now she’s focused on music, including Saturday’s hometown show, where she’ll perform with a full band, as opposed to the solo shows she sometimes offers. She reports her set will last about an hour and a half and says the room was chosen because it’s “intimate enough to have people actually listen and not be distracted by a bar setting.”
It worked when she played there in 2006, when the 400-seat theater was sold to capacity.
“I don’t know,” she says, laughing, when asked what accounted for the large crowd. “It was amazing. We were pleasantly surprised.”
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Abby Ahmad, Saturday, Dec. 27 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre (537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre). Doors 7:30 p.m., show 8 p.m. Tickets: $15.
Ticket info: 570.852.3120.
Info: myspace.com/abbyahmad
