Middlebury Singer/Songwriter Mitchell Finds Her Voice

Author: Lucie Greene

When sitting or studying in The Grille, it's quite easy to let a lot of the music be a comforting, but distinctly background, entity. It's also easy, with a range of cover tunes, to simply allow the much played lyrics to wash over you, in a haze of biology, physics, political science or whatever subject you're tackling. So what is it about Junior Anais Mitchell's self-composed and performed songs that's so engaging -- that forces you to put down your pen and listen?
One of the central musical talents on campus, playing a range of songs based around folk and contemporary influences, Mitchell's talent is the kind that can't be laughed off as a college phase. The degree of sincerity, both beautifully articulated and sensitively sung, is the key to her success as a performer. She quite literally is destined for bigger and better things. This, one would think, would leave her with an air of arrogance. The reality however is polite and friendly and as sincere as the songs.
The Middlebury Campus caught up with her on a cold March afternoon, to ask her a few searching questions. Amidst the hub of espressos and lattes in the Juice Bar, we hoped to get a better picture of one of the most prominent performers on campus.
The Campus: So where are you from originally?
Anais Mitchell: I'm from about 10 minutes away in New Haven, Vt. I grew up there.
The Campus: From that beginning, how did you first get interested in music? What was your first introduction to music education?
A.M.: Well, I always kind of sang, you know, as a kid, and I took violin lessons for a long time, so that was kind of my formal musical education. I started writing songs my senior year of high school, you know, playing my guitar. It just kind of felt like the thing to do.
The Campus: So how would you describe the music that you play? I mean, it seems to have a lot of folk influence or background.
A.M.: I think so, although you know the folk genre means something totally different now than what it used to. It's more a contemporary "singer/songwriter" deal.
The Campus: Right, but would you say that coming from this area, its traditions, etc., had anything to do with influencing your music?
A.M.: I guess I grew up with a lot of folk music: Peter, Paul, and Mary, etc. -- just songs that maybe didn't get recorded but that I learned in school or from my parents or different playing groups. And then I got interested in high school, when I kind of came of musical age, in people like Ani DiFranco, Bob Dylan and people like Joni Mitchell and Dar Williams.
The Campus: That seems very evident in your music, actually (sincere flattery).
A.M.: Oh, thank you.
The Campus: So when you got here, how did you get into performing music, because like Ari Joseph '05, you seem quite central to a lot that goes on here?
A.M.: Well, I took a year off before I came to college and moved to Boston for a while. I was living in a co-op house, and I just kind of got job after job and quit them. I was just trying to get away from institutional life and school, so I was waitressing and doing a bunch of other things, and I was playing music, but that was kind of my focus -- just working on my songwriting.
And I was playing every open mike night that I could, and sometimes even in the subway there. I had a couple of gigs, but you know, nothing serious. But it was great, because the whole time, I mean that was the real learning process for me, in terms of performance and songwriting. I went from not being able to keep it together on stage at all to singing on stage in front of lots of people.
But when I got here, and I just happened to meet a couple of girls, one of them was Laurie Koh '02, and she was running a group called "Chick Jam Society," and that was, you know, really active then. And she knew I was a musician, and was like, "Look, why don't you come and play at this concert we're gonna have," and I was like, "Great!" And from there, it was just kind of great jump into it.
The Campus: Going back to Boston, did you find you got much helpful feedback and experience to help you improve as a musician?
A.M.: I took a songwriting class, which was really great, just being with other people trying to write songs, and hear what they had to say, and it was also the toughest, because I wasn't that great at all, and I wouldn't say that I got negative feedback, but more I got the sense of being one of many. Especially in Boston, where there are tons of people trying to be singer/songwriters. It was a real eye-opener in that way.
The Campus: We've definitely seen you a few times at The Grille.
A.M.: Yeah, you only get a certain number of gigs, I think, once a semester and then J-term. I haven't played my spring one yet.
The Campus: And the Gamut Room, too.
A.M.: Uh-huh, yeah, once in a while. I like the Gamut Room, but you know I think I like The Grille better, because I really like the acoustics, and it's almost nice to not have the pressure of everyone paying attention, because, I don't know, there's something about it that I like -- just being in the background.
The Campus: You've also had experience in the recording studio haven't you? Do you have a record deal?
A.M.: No, I just made a CD and pressed a thousand copies of it.
The Campus: So where do you see yourself headed now? Are you trying to get a record deal or move in a more commercial direction?
A.M.: That's a good question. I think I'd love to get involved in an indie label. I would never try for any large scale commercial label.
The Campus: And yet I can totally see elements of your music being suited or comparable to successful commercial music right now -- not necessarily the pop market but artists who are big selling anyway.
A.M.: Ha ha. I mean maybe at this point I'm just an idealist, but the music industry is pretty messed up right now, and I hate that, and I hate that radio is going the same way. I think it's incredibly limited, with the conglomerates, and a lot of the times it ends up being very conservative.
And women's roles too, within that are also very limited and sexualized and objective and stuff. And I think that there's a great indie scene right now also. There are a lot of great indie labels. And also for folk musicians, there's this great kind of "folk circuit" you can travel that's not large scale but has it's own loyal following, and if you can get in to that it's great.
The Campus: You performed at "The Vagina Monologues." Did your song have any specific reference to how you feel about the issues raised in that show?
A.M.: Yeah. I mean I wrote that song specifically for the show -- its part of a project for my Music 500 course. I'm working on a concert that I'm going to hold on April 26. I'm really excited about it actually. Initially it was on political songwriting, in general, and trying to work on that. But now it's moved in a different direction -- it's changed to kind of more being about American music, and the American folk tradition. I don't know, I guess it kind of came out of, in many ways, feeling like, as an American it's very embarrassing to have the administration that's in power now representing me, with the crazy foreign policy that's going on.
It's hard to be proud of our heritage and our culture. But when I think about the United States, I really love the country and love the music.
It's using songs that are kind of about being unsafe and about creating a positive identity for us.
The Campus: Good luck with it.
A.M.: Thanks.
Mitchell will be performing on Saturday, April 26, so watch out for posters. Her CD is available at the College Book store, and she has one remaining Grille performance this semester.