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“Swim, Johnny, swim!” was what Amanda Sudano Ramirez excitedly squealed as she watched a friend’s baby swim from end to end of a small pool. Abner Ramirez made fun of her for that for years, not knowing that the inside joke would later become their band name, Johnnyswim.
Since marrying in 2009, the singing-songwriting duo from Los Angeles released three EPs, two full-length original albums and a Christmas album, and traveled around the world to perform at concerts, talk shows and festivals. The couple will now share their musical talent with the East End when they perform at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 24.
“We have only positive memories of performing in the Hamptons,” Mr. Ramirez said after explaining how they played at Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack in past summers. “But we’re excited to do a proper concert. This is our first concert in the Hamptons.”
This show will feature a collection of songs from their EPs, their debut album, “Diamonds,” and their latest album, “Georgica Pond,” named after the pond in East Hampton where they frequently vacation. They said they hope to transform the venue into an intimate setting to form a closer bond with the audience.
“We like to say that wherever we’re playing is our living room, whether it’s a festival outdoors, a show, a club, a bar, a theater. Our hope is to turn that place into our living room and everyone there is like a guest,” said Mr. Ramirez, who is also the duo’s producer. “We feel like our performances aren’t a one-sided affair; even if we don’t connect with everyone by name, we hope the experience feels familiar, like being at a dear friend’s home.”
The performing arts center is excited to bring Johnnyswim to the area for the first time, given the duo’s unique sound and energy.
“New, young, fresh and extremely talented—we always strive to give our patrons the very best experience whilst introducing new performers when we get the chance,” said performing arts center executive assistant Erin Young in an email.
With a career that requires traveling often, the young pair’s musical career doubles as family time. They bring their 2-year-old son, Joaquin, along for the trips—he’s already been on about 115 flights and visited 10 countries with them.
Ms. Ramirez—the daughter of diva Donna Summer and composer Bruce Sudano—said that, to Joaquin, they refer to each trip as an “adventure.”
“Tomorrow we leave town for a couple weeks, so today we’ve been getting ready for our next adventure and he gets excited about it and it works out really well,” she said.
They even record all of their songs in a home studio. “Georgica Pond” was made in its entirety “basically while the kid was napping,” Mr. Ramirez said.
One of their recent performances was at the Ford’s Theatre Society’s annual gala on June 4, attended by President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and members of Congress. They were not aware that the president was coming until arriving at the theater.
“It’s a bipartisan event, so you’re looking out and you’re seeing Trump and you’re seeing a lot of people that oppose him, and on stage, there’s a lot of people that have very different feelings,” Ms. Ramirez shared. “But everybody played really nicely together. It was just a really fun evening.”
Their current run of shows, which is taking the duo to several states in the Northeast and Midwest, is preparing them for their momentous Take the World Tour beginning on August 31 in Vancouver, Canada. It will have shows in Europe and the United States until November 17, when they will conclude the tour in Birmingham, Alabama.
For a hard-working couple that loves what they do, the end of their Take the World Tour doesn’t mean the end of their touring.
“We’re kind of never really off the road. We kind of tour year-round,” Ms. Ramirez said when asked what’s next for them. “We’ll still be playing shows throughout and then we’ll start working on another record. We already started writing for the next record.”
But Mr. Ramirez interjected with a more candid answer, thinking of how exhausted they will be: “What we’re going to do when we’re done in November is sleep as much as possible.”
Johnnyswim will perform at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $46 and can be purchased at whbpac.org or by calling 631-288-1500.
on Jun 19, 2017