Author: Himaja

Himaja (she/her) is a Computer Engineering and Writing student with a particular love for music and dance. She's made of 70% mac 'n cheese and 30% coffee and spends her free time going down Wikipedia rabbit holes and writing postcard fiction.

PREVIEW: The Moth StorySLAM

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Has your friend ever told you a story from their life? A story of their mom’s best home-cooked food, of that terrible first date they went on last week, of crying in the library at 2am. How did it feel to listen to them? Whether the story was funny, sad, moving, or silly – in every case, there is something powerful happening there, something that brings you two closer together by listening to them.

Now imagine hearing stories like that…but from complete strangers!

That’s what a Moth StorySLAM night is like – an audience, a microphone, and the brave storytellers who get up to command the room for five minutes at a time with true tales from their own lives. StorySLAM events happen all over the country, from L.A. to NYC – and tomorrow night, there will be one at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor! The prompt for storytellers is Fortune: prepare a five-minute story about Lady Luck.

I’ve been a big fan of The Moth podcast, which captures this type of personal storytelling in the form of episodes each grouped around a story theme. Each story ranges wildly, but what they all share is that they remind me how much I have in common with complete strangers. It’s a deeply empathetic experience to connect with someone that way. I’m incredibly excited to experience it in-person instead of through my earbuds for the first time! I’m also looking forward to visiting The Blind Pig for the first time, which I’ve heard is a very chill and down-to-earth Ann Arbor establishment.

More details on the event can be found on this page: https://themoth.org/events/fortune-ann-arbor. It’ll be happening tomorrow, Tuesday November 16 at The Blind Pig on 208 S 1st St. Doors open at 6:30PM and the stories will start at 7:30PM! Please note that The Blind Pig is an 18+ venue. You can nab tickets here: https://www.blindpigmusic.com/calendar#!/events/1863. I hope to see some of you there!

REVIEW: A THOUSAND WAYS (PART ONE): A PHONE CALL

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I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down in my room after a long day of classes and dialed a random phone number that had been emailed to me 24 hours before. The guidelines were vague:

“On a simple phone call, you and another audience member – nameless strangers to one another – follow a carefully crafted set of directives. Throughout the journey, a portrait of each other emerges through fleeting moments of exposure and the simple sound of an unseen voice.”

That sounds very poetic and all, but how much can really happen in one phone call?, I thought.

Oh, how clueless I was.

The first thing I heard was a low-key electronic voice. “You are in the right place.” it said. “The experience will start as soon as someone joins the line. Please hold for now. There will be music.”

A strange but chill instrumental beat of guitar, drums, and what sounded like a flute and shamisen started up in my ears. A minute passed, then five. I panicked for a moment, thinking that the other audience member had bailed on me. Then the electronic voice came back and counted down.

“5,4,3,2,1.”

A short pause.

“This is not going to be a conversation, it may feel like it but it’s not. This is a way to see one another. Will you both say hello?”

The electronic voice guided us, painting scenes of a story where we were both the protagonists, prompting the conversation. The questions ranged wildly:
What color is your hair?
Name a person you love
Have you ever been to a forest?
Have you ever saved someone’s life?

Over the course of an hour, I strung together these bits and pieces of a stranger into a full human person who I felt like I could see: their weird habits, the color of their eyes, the things they’ve lost since childhood.

“I hope it’s okay to be visible like this,” the electronic voice said at one point.

I won’t spoil the call in too much detail, but I will say that I’ve never felt more like the main character in my own life. I learned things about myself that I had never slowed down enough to think about. Despite being in separate places and not even knowing each others’ names, we reached levels of intimacy and togetherness that I have not felt for a very, very long time.

At the end, we both shared something that we would remember about each other.

“Now it’s time to say goodbye,” the electronic voice said, and I felt an actual pang of sadness.

This was a conversation I will think about and treasure for the rest of my life.

If you have not yet, I would really encourage you to sign up for this experience here before it ends on November 14: https://a2sf.org/events/a-thousand-ways-part-one-a-phone-call/. I think you’ll be surprised at what you find.

REVIEW: Madison Cunningham w/ S.G. Goodman at The Ark

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Something I learned about myself the night I went to see Madison Cunningham at The Ark on the last night of her U.S. tour is that it takes exactly a year without concerts for me to completely forget how live music works.

When special guest S.G. Goodman, a folk singer from Kentucky, and her band began the opening performance, I thought: “Wow, Madison is AMAZING!” It was an interesting blend of indie rock and country, with lyrics about the South. Then she introduced herself after her first song and I did the biggest mental facepalm. “I’m legally obligated to say my name at least seven times while I’m up here,” she said dryly, to laughter from the audience. S.G. has a voice that I can only describe as pure emotion. It’s raspy and bright and clear all at the same time.

The minute Madison Cunningham stepped on stage, my conscious brain screamed: “STEVIE NICKS!!” She could have walked straight out of a photograph of Nicks from the 70s, dripping in a flowing black outfit with blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. Madison’s voice has been compared to Nicks’, and she has also cited Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan as some of her key influences. I could not tell you what genre Madison Cunningham’s music belongs in because there seemed to be no style that this woman couldn’t sing. Her songs jumped from folksy to funky to sad and slow, each one drawing from the sound of a new place: Los Angeles surf rock, French cafe jams, North African island rhythms. Her music was full of the most amazing guitar riffs at the most perfect places – which is doubly impressive considering that she does both lead guitar and lead vocals. There’s one riff I vividly remember where I almost jumped out of my seat at the chills I got from how perfectly it hit my ears. She fully commanded the guitar, the microphone, and the entire stage all at once – and made it look effortless to boot. There were multiple times where I was so stunned after a song that I forgot to clap.

 

At one point S.G. joined Madison on stage for a duet. Their voices melded together beautifully for an ode to Madison’s grandmother, who passed away last year. It reminded me what a blessing it was for me to even be sitting there in person, smiling underneath my face mask, being able to feel the beat of the drums reverberate through the floors under my feet for the first time in so long. I walked out of The Ark thinking of the words Madison herself said on stage: ““I don’t ever want to take live music for granted again.”

If you’d like an introduction to the creative world of Madison Cunningham’s music, you’re in luck because I’ve put together a little sampler for you in the form of this playlist with some of my favorites. Have a listen during your next lunch break!