The Ditty Bops
8 p.m. Aug. 29
The Ark, Ann Arbor
The Ditty Bops are done cultivating a fresh crop of songs for their mellow upcoming release, "Summer Rains." So they've moved onto other things, like herbs, tomatoes and zucchini. But that doesn't mean, when they team with Willie Nelson for next month's Farm Aid in New York, that the marijuana magnet – assuming his own stash is on short supply – can visit their traveling digs for some premium grass.
"Oh, no, I don't smoke," Amanda Barrett says from an Oregon hotel. She pauses, unleashes a howling laugh. "I may grow herbs in my van, but not those kind."
Instead, the whatever-goes duo, along with a veggie assortment, have mint, sage and thyme sprouting in their EarthBox, a virtually effort-free high-tech growing system – one of which will be raffled off at their 8 p.m. visit on Aug. 29 to The Ark in Ann Arbor.
"There's a little bit of greenery on this tour," Barrett acknowledges.
There also was a little bit of nakedness going on last time the California-based pair drove, er, rode their bicycles to Ann Arbor on their "bike tour," stopping at more than 12 venues to play their quirky folk-ish ditties for toe-tapping crowds.
Though Barrett and Abby DeWald, her musical and romantic partner, made many memories and changed plenty of flat tires, the biking tour, which brought them from the Venice boardwalk to the Big Apple, was a testament to their green ways – as is their current one, which supports organic farms, local food and the people growing the grub.
Their slender bods – the shorter DeWald looks remarkably similar to Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Barrett's long legs easily make her model material (a job she actually held for 11 years) – ran out of steam upon their return, quickly succumbing to illness. But now, their legs are on break.
Sort of.
"We've brought our bikes, which is great so we can get away from the van if we want to take off and do something," Barrett hoots. "We're learning, if you're gonna go in a van, it's good to bring a bike."
Though Barrett barely recalls the "flashy" episode that yielded cheers and laughs during the duo's zany show at The Ark last year, both gals strolled onto the stage in their undergarments, giving the audience a peek of what's under their often-crazy costumes (which, this time around, will be plastic getups and silly vegetable gowns).
Just don't expect an encore – unless they're at the beach, where they often sunbathe topless. Or at their gym's pool, where DeWald will flash 'em around, "much to the dismay of the male humans without their tops, who felt like she was pushing into their power territory," Barrett laughs.
Their new "Save the World" calendar, available at the show along with an EP of cut tracks from their most recent album, "Moon Over the Freeway," addresses "top freedom" for women – an issue that really shouldn't even be one, Barrett says. One that she calls "really ridiculous."
It's a dilemma that anyone who's ever played for goats gets. And that would be Barrett and DeWald, who both performed among a plethora of their furry friends – all females – at a farm in California (as seen on YouTube). One just couldn't stray from Barrett, who giggled her way like a ticklish tot through the ditty as the unquestionably queer goat endlessly nudged her head on the performer's ass like some overly-clingy gay guy.
"They tend to run their heads on everything," Barrett says. "I didn't really take it personal, because I saw them doing that against like poles in the barn; they'd scratch their heads or heinies or whatever."
Barrett and DeWald, both former farmers' market employees, won't be ranching a gaggle of goats any time soon, though. They'll stick with those living things that don't treat them like a barn pole – namely, tomatoes and zucchini. "It's been interesting to visit the farms. And it's a lot of work. Farmers have to do a lot of work. It's pretty incredible. It's a full-time – it's a double-full-time job."
And right now, with the remainder of their tour (which wraps in September), a vegetable garden in their van and the yet-to-be-announced release of their album, there's just no time for full-time farming. Or gay goats.
