Anaïs Mitchell sings for charity

There is a unique pleasure in watching a deserving musician rise to prominence.

And Middlebury’s own Anaïs Mitchell ’04 seems to be doing just that, slowly but surely. Since signing to Ani DiFranco’s record label — Righteous Babe — and releasing her third album, “The brightness,” on that label in 2007, Mitchell has gained more and more attention, especially during her tour supporting indie-folk lightning rod Bon Iver. This tour also led her to ask Bon Iver singer/songwriter/frontman Justin Vernon to sing on her new album “Hadestown,” released this March.

Before the “Hadestown” song cycle was a recorded album, it took the form of a musical stage production, written by Mitchell, described in her own words as “a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in a post-apocalyptic Depression-era America.”

The production was constantly being reworked and revised, but one iteration of the performance appeared here at Middlebury in the fall of 2007, as some will remember. Now, after two solo acoustic shows in the Gamut Room — in spring ’08 and ’09 — Mitchell returned last Tuesday for a larger-capacity show in the McCullough Social Space, renovated since it housed “Hadestown” two and a half years ago.

She performed a number of songs from the album, some of which had not yet been completed during the theatrical production’s tour. The other key difference, and that which will do the most to boost Mitchell’s career, is the recruitment of an all-star vocal cast for the album.

Mitchell herself sings the part of Eurydice, and Justin Vernon puts his beautiful pipes to good use in singing the part of Orpheus. Interestingly, his vocals are always layered in recording, ostensibly representing Orpheus’s superhuman vocal abilities.

Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem and the Haden Triplets both make brief appearances as Hermes and the Furies, respectively. Finally, Ani DiFranco sings as Persephone and veteran folk growler Greg Brown performs the part of Hades.

As “casting” choices — if this is the right word — DiFranco and Brown are perfect. Both take their characters in the interpretive directions that Mitchell’s lyrics hint at; Persephone becomes a bit of a “righteous babe” rather than purely helpless and pathetic (especially on the excellent, underworld-burlesque “Our Lady of the Underground”), and Brown’s rugged, gravelly emotion lends Hades some tragedy and sympathy, rather than rendering him purely cruel and evil. And Justin Vernon is the indie world’s current King Midas, bringing an incredible musical sensibility and remarkable buzz to whatever he touches his finger to, even in the case of esoteric side projects like Volcano Choir and the upcoming “Gayngs” release.

In the current alternative music press-world of blogospheres and Hype Machines, Vernon’s presence will do the most to draw eyes to the “Hadestown” album.

It also helps that the tunes are excellent ones, filled with Mitchell’s literary wit and her traditionally-rooted sense for melody.

They certainly held up just fine on Tuesday night, alongside the rest of Mitchell’s other material, the highlights from which accounted for the other half of her set. And speaking of holding one’s own, opener Laura Heaberlin ’12.5 sounded excellent when Mitchell invited her up onto the stage for several songs, particularly when singing the part of Eurydice on “Hadestown” standout “Wedding Song.” Mitchell went on to play favorites, like “Your Fonder Heart” and “Cosmic American,” from “The brightness” and “Hymns for the Exiled,” respectively, as well as unreleased gems like “The Shepherd’s Song” (YouTube it right this moment).

In the tradition of her Gamut Room shows the past two years, she even opened the floor for requests, though it was much harder to get your favorite played (I would’ve liked to hear “Shenandoah”) with three or four times as many people than the Gamut Room can hold jockeying for their own recommendation.

And just when you thought Mitchell could not craft a project more — I have to say it — “Middlebury-esque” than “Hadestown” (and I mean this in the best possible way), she played a song from an upcoming collaborative project that involves repurposing old folk ballads from the British Isles. It’s clear that a connection to the traditional, ancient ideal of “folk music” is a driving force in Anaïs Mitchell’s work.

She brought this motivation full circle at the end of the show, when she unplugged for a sing-along rendition of that endlessly pretty 19th-century folk song, “Goodnight Irene”.

What Mitchell really excels at is turning a concert audience into a community. This is admittedly easier when the singer and all the attendees have gone to the same college, but traditional folk songs like “Irene” do that exceptionally well.

By the end of the concert, she had created a lovely feeling of mutual graciousness and respect; this may be her home court, so to speak, but seeing the fanbase at her alma mater jump from Gamut Room-sized to McCullough-sized must be nice.

And we, the audience, get to spend an evening with an immensely talented rising star, whose ideals and experiences hit so close to home. Hopefully she won’t get so famous that she won’t be able to come back again next year.