Anaïs Mitchell: Humble, Honest, Persistent

Blog by Eric Smith

November 30, 2018

I really enjoyed hearing Anaïs Mitchell speak about her personal story and Hadestown, the musical she has been working on. Right at the top of her presentation, she talked about how writing words was her “way into” songwriting. Her dad was a writer and so she said she always wanted to be a writer. I thought this was interesting because so many composers seem to have the opposite story, especially thus far in this class. One thing that stood out to me is that throughout her presentation, she talked about the musicians and songwriters that inspired and continue to inspire her. I think the reason this stood out to me is because this is something that has been generally lacking from previous presenters. In my experience, composers seem to shy away from talking too much (or at all) about one’s specific musical influences. The exception (again, just from my experience) has been with “popular” singer/songwriters and jazz musician/composers. So it was refreshing to hear her give it up to those who had a profound impact on her life, especially because I hadn’t heard of a few of them, like Paul Brady.

I also thought her perspective on singer/songwriters and the music business was very interesting. I hadn’t heard of the Folk Alliance but it sounds like a networking opportunity with high potential for folk artists as well as a positive environment to participate in and to be inspired by. It was hard to even imagine that she used to make a few hundred dollars from playing a gig and then exceed that payment in CD sales. I have to think back to my early youth to remember standing in line at shows to buy CDs for $10-15 and only then can I somewhat understand what that business model must have been like. She summed it up really well in saying “there was a period where I would work on projects and play gigs to sell CDs and that period came and went. Now I approach projects from the viewpoint of ‘what kinds of gigs can I get from this’ and not ‘how many CDs can I sell.’” As a performer, I think that is an interesting and important perspective to consider: not working towards selling CDs or by extension streams, but instead working on projects that will lend themselves to gigs.

Her persistence in writing this musical is quite inspiring. I would be interested in hearing more about what she’s learned about the musical, her craft, and herself by continuously developing a project for twelve years. I tend to either finish something or throw it out, so the idea of working on something for awhile and continually revisiting it is foreign to me but something I’d like to try.

Finally, I thought what she and Dr. Wolfe said about being a partner and parent were very interesting testimonies. I am always curious about how artists with significant others and/or children make it all work, especially artists that are heavily entrepreneurial and initiate their own projects.  

Anaïs Mitchell

I really enjoyed this past week’s lecture with Anaïs Mitchell. I found it interesting that much of the idiosyncrasies that drove her to music are similar to mine. For example, I loved when she spoke about cyclicality, or mythology, and how they were catalysts for music. I just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, and I was surprised how much it invoked in my artistically. I’m really interested to see how her work ends up, and how it uses its mythology as a springboard for art. Of course, it doesn’t help that musical theater composition is my secret love, and Broadway is a huge aspiration of mine, for which I will always been jealous. Getting to watch how a Broadway show goes from conception to the stage seems to be one of the most fascinating things a musician can be involved in.

But the things that spoke to me most personally from her were her distractions. She spoke a bit about how her phone is a constant detriment to her art. With the internet and communication as vast instantaneous as they are, I often find myself almost ironically less productive. I’ve been, admittedly, very relieved that the MTA subway goes underground, where I can’t be online. I’ve been forced to write or read things that I’ve always wanted to, but have been long unwilling to sacrifice my precious time. I’m sure many of us can relate to this, but finding a solution seems perhaps like just self-restraint. I appreciated hearing how that affects others as much as it affects me.

Another thing I found thought-provoking was her emphasis on motherhood. In terms of composing, I’ve always seen it as a pretty isolating profession, at least in ways that I find to be the most productive. Having many spans of a few hours without any distractions is integral to my composition method. I can’t seem to imagine what it would be like to have such a constant presence that keeps me from an uninterrupted composing session. I had a lot of newfound respect for parent composers and artists. My mother is actually an author, and it’s been interesting to see how her work evolves as her children (me being the oldest) age. Seeing the beginning of her career turn into a lot of child-oriented works, which then matured as we did, is very interesting from an artistic perspective. And, of course, there’s the amount of work that is required compared to the amount of work that needs to be done. She would often lock herself in her study to try to get work done, but would often have to stop before she wanted to due to various needs of her kids. It was sobering seeing the same thing, but from a musician’s perspective.

And finally, I really loved her work in Orpheus. The talent she got initially – including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Hamilton’s Renee Elise Goldsberry – is outstanding, and the work itself seems incredibly intriguing. I look forward to hearing more from her and more about her, and I definitely had a great time during the lecture.

“I like the molting bird,” -Anaïs Mitchell

Jessi Raymundo

Composers’ Forum

30 November 2018

“I like the molting bird,” -Anaïs Mitchell

I walked into forum with the mindset of “Holy shit, there’s a woman here in the biz,”––musical theatre biz, that is, and I knew I was in for a night of learning exactly what I’ve been chasing after. I didn’t know much about Anaïs’ background, and if I’m being honest, all I knew was that her show is called Hadestown. I didn’t know she comes from such strong folk roots, so I guess to put things into perspective, during Monday’s meeting, I had my free sample at Costco and I will most definitely buy an entire box and probably come back in a week to buy another. Or should I just buy it in bulk right now? Anaïs Mitchell, you’ve given me a dose of energy that far surpasses that of the Red Bulls I chugged in high school and here’s why.

From her upbringing in Vermont with hippie parents, to her DIY singer-songwriter beginnings, to singing around a campfire, and ultimately ending up on Broadway––Anaïs proves that success is possible with a guitar, a voice, some words, and a story. And even then, I can vouch that maybe Anaïs would have multiple definitions of what “success” means anyway. Throughout her talk, I made sure to pay extra close attention to her recipe for Hadestown. Not necessarily the who, what, and when of its production, but the how. What really resonated with me about Anaïs was her declaration of not being a theatre kid and not necessarily knowing every Broadway musical known to humankind. And because of this, the how of getting to Broadway seemed the most vital part for me to absorb. She and I come from similar backgrounds in a sense that we didn’t grow up eating, sleeping, and breathing Broadway. We don’t know (insert iconic musical from the 1950’s, 60’s, or 70’s) upsidedown and backwards, but are certainly still drawn to storytelling through theatre.

She described herself as an artist as “still discovering,” meaning, she’s never done learning. She hasn’t reached a point where she knows everything, and through other artists, musicians, directors, actors, etc. she was able to see her work flourish in ways she couldn’t have done all by herself. I remember she said something along the lines of “loosen your grip on the reigns of your project, don’t be afraid of bringing other people on,” and “if you hold on too tightly, you could be preventing your art from great, new, unthought-of things.” She made a point to thank pre-Spotify/music streaming society for making her first solo album virtually disappear from record because she simply doesn’t like it anymore, and this, is what brought a burning question to my mind. I’ve recently realized that I am not the same artist I was even eight months ago, and after looking at my old work, I’ve found that I don’t like it anymore. Sound familiar? Does every musician, composer, artist end up feeling this way? Do the beings we once were at the time of writing our old music disappear? Are we suddenly just a whole new entity born from different stages of our lifetime? Or do we remain the same being throughout and move forward as a culmination of our old selves and look different on the outside? Anaïs was right in front of me after class, so I asked her.

“Would you say your timeline as an artist is more comparable to the life cycle of a butterfly? With the egg, the caterpillar, the cocoon, and then bam, butterfly? Or, would you say it’s more like a bird who’s molting, growing new feathers?” Well she smiled and replied, “I like the molting bird.”

Anias Mitchell: bringing the “folk” to the “city”

Anias Mitchell: bringing the “folk” to the “city”

A Blog by Dallin Burns

November 30, 2018

I have always loved folk music. I tend to stick it in my category of “mental decompression” music. I love to listen when relaxing or taking a break from more ambitious musical endeavors. One thing that honestly never crossed my mind though was, “Hey, folk music would narrate a Broadway show perfectly!” even writing this sentence makes me feel silly. In my narrow way of consuming popular music, I rarely allow genres to cross boarders mentally. Listening to Anais Mitchel so passionately speak about her music inspired me develop a more mature way of consuming different genres of music.

Her sound, in few words, is pure. It is clean and easy to appreciate. She perfectly marries light instrumentation with a clean and powerful voice. This talent pared with an incredible ability to create meaningful lyrics that carry depth, passion, and incredible story telling. I ask myself, “Why wouldn’t this talent belong on a major stage in New York City.” The more I think about this the more I am convinced, this sound is what “Broadway” NEEDS.

Turning back to my brain, I tend to tie Broadway with show tunes only. When I think Broadway I want to hear, “you can’t stop the beat” from hairspray with its raucous sound, relentless modulations, and belting vocalists. But, are show tunes the penultimate form of storytelling? Is there a form of music that could tell stories better? When I first moved out to New York I took my parents to see Wicked. They both loved it, but my dad said he had a hard time understanding the words during many of the songs. I know he would not say the same if the story was told with a folksier sound and singing. To me that is where Folk music can rule the stage, Clarity.

After listening to the track shared, I was excited. I wanted to see this production on the stage. I wanted to keep listening! I honestly was disappointed when she cut the track. I will not be surprised when this musical is met with great applause from audience and critics alike. As I mentioned earlier, I feel this is a genre that is long over due on Broadway. If any of you know of any other shows that incorporate this Folk sound please let me know!

Since listening to Anais, I have been actively working on analyzing music not by genre, but by its sound and content. She has inspired me to see that there are multiple ways to tell a story. And folk music is a perfect example of storytelling in a medium that many others like me have not taken seriously. My goals are to, of course, catch her show on Broadway, and to explore using folk music in film. Using it as a tool for storytelling, and augmenting what is happening on the screen. I look forward to listening to more of her music and watching her take Broadway by storm with her great story telling, passion, and love for a genre of music often overlooked by the public.