This musical duo behind Moana 2 + Bridgerton has ties to Birmingham
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Who knew the musical phenomenon Barlow & Bear would have ties to Birmingham?
Abigail Barlow of Barlow & Bear grew up right here in The Magic City and developed her taste for arts from multiple Birmingham-based companies, including the Red Mountain Theatre Company.
Read on to learn more about this talented duo and how they composed the soundtrack for Moana 2.
Who is Barlow & Bear?
Have you ever watched the Netflix hit TV show Bridgerton?
This period piece takes the you back in time with frilly dresses, scandalous love stories and historical nods. Artists Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear created an unofficial TikTok musical that blew up and gained recognition, leading to their successful win at the Grammys in 2022.
Now the dynamic duo continues to shine as they take on newer and bigger projects.
Their most recent venture, Moana 2, has been one of their major projects and really hit home for both of the artists. Being able to write music for Moana, whose character faces issues with finding her place in the world, has taught the pair different styles of music and culture, according to People magazine.
“Ultimately, she becomes a better leader in this sequel. Like I said, this process, I felt like life was a classroom and I was learning so, so much about myself, about this industry. I think that’s the way I relate to her is that I just feel like I’ve grown a lot, and I’m proud of me for that because it’s not easy.”
Abigail Barlow, People Magazine
Abigail Barlow: from The Magic City to Disney
Abigail Barlow grew up right here in Birmingham and was exposed to numerous art venues, where she would take a huge interest in musicals.
The Mountain Brook native has taken her deep passion for art and turned it into a Grammy award-winning career. Along with making the Forbes 30 under 30 list, both Abigail and Emily became the first female writing team to write for Disney as well as the youngest composers to write for Disney.
“But it’s crazy that a concept album based off of a TV show that we wrote for fun during COVID was a thing that blew open all the doors for us. It was not planned. It started out as something fun to pass the time when we had no jobs and no money during COVID, and it just outgrew us. Bloomed and blossomed and flew away a like a dandelion.”
Emily Bear, People Magazine
Have you seen Barlow & Bear’s most recent project, Moana 2? Let us know by tagging us @bhamnow.
