ANDOVER — A local singer-songwriter is gearing up for a hometown performance she hopes is as emotionally raw as the songs she loves to write.
Abby Mittelman, 19, of Andover, will perform a two-hour acoustic set at 7 p.m. on Friday at Oak and Iron Brewing Co., 18 Red Spring Road.
Her set will be a mix of covers and original folk-style songs from her EP to be released in the fall.
Mittelman is a self-taught musician who has independently written, recorded, produced, mixed and released original songs.
Her songwriting took off about two years ago after picking up her first guitar while a student at the Pingree School in Hamilton, Massachusetts. She said that’s where the music switch was flipped for her.
Mittelman was a multi-sport athlete growing up and played varsity hockey at Pingree.
Her parents got her a toy guitar at 5, when she pretended to be a rock star with it, she recalled. Mittelman later played the piano for a few years in grade school and performed in recitals before hockey, softball and basketball became her focus.
One day at lunch, she was sitting with friends at Pingree and one asked her if she wanted to go to a songwriting workshop at the school. Mittelman said she walked into the workshop and heard the music that a woman was playing.
“It totally clicked something within me,” she said. “I just sat down. I had no idea how to play a guitar. I’d forgotten how to play piano. I threw on a YouTube video of a guitar track in the background and just started singing along with it.”
She started playing guitar after taking a music class at the school and got back on the keyboards. Then Mittelman started to learn the banjo, bass and drums.
“You find after learning your first few instruments that they all start to connect,” she said.
The teenager has found music as self expression and an outlet to help her process and cope with her feelings and whatever she may be going through.
Mittelman’s Pingree hockey teammates would have her grab the mic from the team’s karaoke machine in the locker room to hear her new songs. Her coaches were also supportive of her endeavors outside the team.
Mittelman tries to write one song every day, finding inspiration in heartbreak, nature, the people she meets and her surroundings. She said she’s written hundreds of songs.
She has released more than 40 songs, but takes them down when she feels she’s grown as an artist. As an independent artist, Mittelman creates her music with a digital audio workstation.
“It sounds like Abby Mittelman and that’s what I love about it,” she said about her music when asked if she’s influenced by others.
“How You Remind Me” is one of her favorite songs she has written.
“It’s just me and a very raw and authentic song about the experience of living in such a beautiful place,” she said. “It reminds me of the beautiful people I have met in my life.”
Mittelman’s song “Frozen” will appear on her upcoming EP, and be professionally produced, she said. The EP will drop during her first semester as a freshman at the University of Vermont. She wrote the song last December about a breakup.
“Frozen” has resonated with her online audience.
People have messaged Mittelman saying they added her song to their playlist or that she has become their new favorite independent artist. Some people have sent her videos of them doing their own rendition of the song.
“It’s so inspiring and it makes me really excited for this next chapter,” she said, “Seeing how much my music is connecting me with other people is something I never expected.”
Mittelman will have family and friends in the crowd when she performs this Friday. She said she’s feeling a mix of nervous and excited energy, but support from her family and the Temple Emanuel community where she’s also performed with its cantor.
The Andover performance will be just Mittelman and her guitar – and that’s the way she likes it. Her favorite songs are the ones that are more stripped down and “emotionally raw.”
“The things people are most afraid to share are the things about their emotions, who we love, who we lose, and all that, and those are what connect us the most.”