5 Questions with Abby & The Myth

5 Questions with Abby & The MythLA based Abby Posner and her band The Myth are ready to take a climb. With the release of “When You Dig A Well” and the signing to famed music supervisor and KCRW DJ Gary Calamar’s Publishing company Laurel Canon, the only road it looks like they are taking is a 45 degree angle upward. The tunes are folksy sing-along dittie’s and comparisons run amok of The Lumineers, Of Monster And Men, and The Head And The Heart. I recently caught their sold-out show at the famed Los Angeles bite-sized venue Hotel Cafe which has a knack for showcasing the next breakout singer/songwriters acts of tomorrow. I grabbed a chance to ask Abby a few questions.

What is your writing process? I know it sounds trite and corny, but I honestly love waking up early with the sunrise. I open my kitchen window and put a fresh pot of coffee on. I find this is the most peaceful time of day for me, and this is when I am fully connected to my creative/emotional experience. The day is new, and I have a moment to start again.

I usually wake up with melodies or chord structures in my head, so I tend to sit in the kitchen and hum something out first. I always write the music and the words at the same time, never have I written lyrics without knowing what the music sounds like. The two have always have gone hand and hand for me. I often find that the chords help the lyrics grow into something that I could have never created without the security and sturdiness of a melodic blanket.

How did you find your sound? I started writing when I was a wee lass at 14. I have always been drawn to raw acoustic folk music, most likely because my parents would play Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell around the house when I was a kid and I fell in love with the poetry and realness of those records. There was always something very haunting and rich about folk music to me. It feels like the most honest way for me to tell my story. I love more than anything producing and arranging music for banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and acoustic sounds. I have never been big into electronic music unless there are organic elements involved. I remember listening to the record “I Am Wide Awake It’s Morning” by Bright Eyes, and thinking, “Oh, this is raw, painfully beautiful, and timeless. I want to create something that feels timeless, where you can’t really place the genre – you simply feel it, and never want to stop feeling it.”

What is your wow factor, like you can say I made it? When I was touring a few years back, we played a live radio show in Portland, and after the show I received the most beautiful message from someone that listened to the show. She said she was living in a very dark place for years, felt depressed and alone, and hearing our music was the first time she really felt hope again. This was the moment where I said, “I made it.” My music reached someone in a positive way. That is really all I could ever ask for. I also cried tears of joy when I heard my music underneath Ira Glass’s voice on my favorite radio show “This American Life.”


“When I was touring a few years back, we played a live radio show in Portland, and after the show I received the most beautiful message from someone that listened to the show. She said she was living in a very dark place for years, felt depressed and alone, and hearing our music was the first time she really felt hope again. This was the moment where I said, ‘I made it.'”


Who are you influenced by? I would say my three musical heroes are Chris Thile, Andrew Bird, and Justin Vernon. They play everything and create arrangements that are beyond anything I have ever heard.

my favorite album of all times is a record Andrew put out in 2014 called “Things Are Really Great Here Sort Of” it is a collection of cover songs by the band the Handsome Family.

What can people expect from seeing your live show? Expect a lot of energy. I love being on stage, it fills me up more than anything. I love jumping around like a wild banshee, and really being present with the music and sounds from my amazing band mates. Cara plays accordion, piano, gloch, and looks like an angel on stage. Dony plays upright bass and manages to shake his tale feather as much as I do (I have never been able to find a band mate that matches my energy the way Dony does), Dave plays drums and has a perfect pocket – he interprets the songs so brilliantly. We like to go from a lot of high energy rock tunes, to soft heart tugging folk songs that make you cry your sweet little eye balls out.

Bonus question: You’re a fly on the wall, who’s wall would it be? Definitely Claire Danes. No, Elizabeth Warren. No wait, Pema Chodron. Can I be three flies on three walls?

LISTEN HERE and be sure to check out the band’s recently released Samsung virtual reality live unplugged video HERE.

To learn more, visit: www.abbyposner.com


Allison Shaw, LVBX MagazineAllison got her big break in the music industry by writing for MTV/Vh1 where she interviewed everyone from Prince, to Elton John, Lenny Kravitz, Blink 182 and many more. From there she started Hyperactive Music Magazine that went national. Shaw then produced several big festivals and went to work for Rachael Ray’s Entertainment company. Shaw started Manic Monkee MGMT which manages bands and does brand strategy for all kinds of brands in music/tech/consumer products and aligns brands with events. The company also produces events. Shaw is also on the Board Of Directors for non-profit music charity Sweet Relief. Follow her on Twitter at @manicmonkee.

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