Abby Travis

“My last album was rather dark and intellectual,” Abby Travis reflects. “This one comes more from the pelvis.”

The Los Angeles singer-songwriter, bassist and underground fashion icon is referring to her new release, GlitterMouth, an intoxicating amalgam of glam-rock, trip-hop, soul and cabaret.

In addition to serving as the principal author of all of the songs (except the Shangri-Las cover “Past, Present & Future”), Travis sang lead and background vocals, played bass and a handful of other instruments, and produced, engineered and mixed the lion’s share of GlitterMouth.

Travis’ previous album, Cutthroat Standards & Black Pop, which earned praise from the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the LA Weekly and numerous other publications, primarily showcased her mordant wit and way with a smoky ballad. GlitterMouth offers a more comprehensive view of her breathtaking musical range – and explores entirely new emotional territory.

Indeed, she has amassed quite a roster of musical friends since her heady late-’80s days as a teen bassist in the seminal L.A. band The Love Dolls, after which she became an in-demand player, backing up Elastica and Beck in back-to-back sets at Lollapalooza ’95 and supporting acts as diverse as Exene Cervenka, Michael Penn, KMFDM, Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes, Vanessa Paradis and Spinal Tap. She was also house bassist at the riotous, gender-blending Club Makeup, where she could relied upon to enliven everything from an evening of Queen covers to a set by Dee Dee Ramone or a phalanx of warbling, bespangled drag queens. She also appeared in a slew of independent films, including Shadow Hours, Weathermen 69 and The Book of Manson. She wrote, performed, produced and released her first solo disc, The Abby Travis Foundation, in 1998.

Travis toured extensively in support of 2002’s Cutthroat Standards & Black Pop, showcasing a wardrobe worthy of a matinee idol (memorialized in Rocky Schenk’s sumptuous photos, several of which adorn the GlitterMouth package) and helping to popularize the fledging alternative-cabaret subgenre. In support of GlitterMouth, Abby opened for industrial icons KMFDM on their tour in October of 2006. Music has changed since the release of her previous album. “It was harder to find other acts to share a bill with back then,” she says. “Now there are a lot more. I’m beginning to feel less like a scene of one.”

Upcoming Shows:

Jul 21 2007 8:00P MANDALAY BAY LAS VEGAS (Bangles Show) Las Vegas, Nevada

Jul 26 2007 7:00P ABBY TRAVIS SHOW @ HOUSE OF BLUES LOS ANGELES West Hollywood

Jul 26 2007 7:30P House of Blues Sunset Strip (Bangels show) West Hollywood, California

Jul 27 2007 7:00P PACIFIC AMPHITHEATRE - WITH HEART (Bangles show) Costa Mesa, California

Jul 28 2007 7:30P House of Blues San Diego (Bangles Show San Diego, California

Jul 28 2007 8:00P ABBY TRAVIS SHOW @ HOUSE OF BLUES San Diego San Diego, California

Aug 2 2007 8:00P California Mid State Fair (Bangles show) Paso Robles, California

Aug 9 2007 8:00P Ventura County Fair (Bangles Show) Ventura, California

Aug 19 2007 8:00P Morongo Casino Resort & Spa (Bangles Show) Cabazon, California

Aug 24 2007 8:00P Orpheum Theatre (Bangles Show) Madison, Wisconsin

Aug 25 2007 8:00P Meyer Theater (Bangles Show) Green Bay, Wisconsin

Aug 27 2007 8:00P House of Blues Chicago (Bangles show) Chicago, Illinois

Aug 29 2007 8:00P Meadowbrook (Bangles show) Detroit, Michigan

Aug 30 2007 8:00P House of Blues Cleveland (Bangles show) Cleveland, Ohio

Sep 1 2007 8:00P Woodstock Fair (Bangles Show) South Woodstock, Connecticut

Sep 2 2007 8:00P Foxwoods Casino (Bangels Show) Mashantucket, Connecticut