boston progress radio

A couple of friends of Boston Progress Arts Collective has embarked on a new adventure to spread positive facts and debunk old lies about Asian Americans—to tell everyone how awesome Asian Americans are behind the wheel.

Kit Yan—transgendered champion slam poet—and Melissa Li—lesbian folkrocker—are driving across the country in a small automobile, spreading their music and words wherever they go. Both of them featured at East Meets Words last year and I had the privilege of interviewing them for Boston Progress Radio.

You can follow them on their cross country journey as they travel through 30 states and 20 major cities, seeking out the Asian American and queer communities, and representing voices that are not often heard. Read about their adventures on their blog and check when they might be coming through your town. Read more

Tags: Boston Progress, Community, Concert, Video.

with the exception of one month, for three years, every second friday has transformed a tiny bookstore into a magical haven of shared energy—stanzas, lyrics, melodies, rhymes, dances, visuals, fragmented thoughts, reciprocation and appreciation, have been transferred between bodies and spirits.

so i thought it would be fun to take a short look back, in order to look forward.

the bookstore, east meets west, opened october of 2004, with just a small table full of independent apia CD’s and chapbooks. only open on saturdays, the store served as a clubhouse of sorts for boston progress members to catch up, crack jokes, and build together. having an actual physical space available and seeing the potential of our space, it was only natural to program an open mic… but what shape it would take or how it would be actualized, no one really could tell. up to that point, only a few people have actually passed through the threshold of the store and wandered into our world.

in a boba tea spot in the back bay, at a monthly boston progress meeting, the open mic began to form an identity. after several suggestions (ginger-bred, mic-a-saurus rex), vinh the kid said after only a second of thought, east meets words, and the open mic had a name.

first open mic, we had the synchronous fortune of having not just one, but two members of 2 tongues, anida yoeu ali and marlon esguerra, in the northeast. it seems only fitting to have them be the first to bless the open mic as our first co-features. flash forward a year, we had regie cabico telling stories of mini-wooden-penises from men in barrels while humping a stool as a make-shift lover. in between and following, beautiful features from nyc, philly, the bay, LA, minnesota, toronto, chicago, jersee, and locals—all have graced the space.the list of open mic-er seem to be just as illustrious with local poets, musicians, freestylers, youth, passer-byers—all have come thru the space and shared…

to now. we don’t even have to worry about having folks come through… without fail, open mic nights become packed. and the unheated bookstore warms with body heat, which is the only thing that can keep you warm during the cold cold cold boston winters.

on a personal tip, the open mic has opened gates internally, like nothing has before. it’s not just learning the audience banter as a host, or getting over awkward insecurities as an open mic-er, or being brave enough to read from dusty journals as a feature, but i’ve learned that the more i can let go of… speak my mind and heart about, the more room i have to grow… i’ve learned to be open, unguarded—even if just for a few minutes—shed walls and free little pieces of my thoughts with the people. i’ve learned in a deep way the power of words… the unlocking of held breathes i usually choke back, releasing spiritual self into the physical world. even now, three years later, once a month, i still get nervous as i open my black book of secrets and with a shaky voice read out. but i’ve started to see many others, other unidentified poets and writers looking forward, raising their voice at the open mic. in the most obvious way, the open mic was a monthly session to meditate on the state of your union. where would i be if i didn’t have that space… i can’t even begin to assume.

looking back, we realize the open mics really wouldn’t be anything without everyone who supports–reads out on the list, listens in the metal chairs, claps their hands to the beat, yells words to rhyme about, and who shouts—ohhhhhh yeah. so it seems only right to have our three year anniversary feature be east meets words—a super mic of sorts. each and every participant—open mic-ers and audience alike—are the feature.

oh, the only month we did not hold the open mic at east meets west, was august 2005—when boston hosted the 3rd apia spoken word summit. but i guess even then, one can see the community and family showcase as open mics, so yeah, then for three years, boston progress has hosted an open mic, each month… and we’re still holding it down. solid.

Tags: Boston Progress, Commentary, Open Mic.

Today, I’m going to add a few more artists to our play list. It has been awhile since I did an update. I suppose life in the real world has taken over life in the cyberworld.

The radio station has been up and running for about 6 months now and I’m pleased at what we have achieved so far. I still have bigger dreams for the station. I’d like to see our random and totally eclectic playlist morph into well-contained programs. We’d have a hip hop show. A singer/songwriter folk show. And maybe even a spoken word show. As of now, I do not think we have enough artists to do such a thing. And we don’t have enough resources to obtain software to allow us to use such a format, but I can dream right? What would be very exciting is if we were able to have live DJs take requests and play your favorite music. It might take awhile before we get there, but I’m never going to stop dreaming. We should always try to dream big.

New on BPR this week are Cynthia Lin, Dawen Wang, Koba, and Melissa Li.

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Tags: Commentary, Online Radio.

Another month has passed, feels like time is flying by. This month’s East Meets Words Open Mic Series featured the talented Ms. Melissa Li. The Open Mic Series this month featured a great cast of performers. Every performer shot straight from their heart and it was one of the more inspirational open mics. Vinh the Kid was normally the first one to perform for the Open Mic but he was a no show this month so Kit Yan, the featured artist for the month of September started things off. Kit performed a moving piece dedicating to his home island of Hawaii. Delia followed up by reading two pieces, one in which she wrote in College and one about the recent events that’s been happening in her life in which she titled “The D Word.” Febo was up next and with inspiration from Kit, performed a powerful piece addressing truth in society. Ash performed a moving piece dedicated to his mother and Joey B performed a piece reminding us all about our past with that special someone. A new performer came onto the stage by the name of Afro-D who blew us all away with his piece about the Racial Race in America. Giles covered a piece by Jason Bayani and the Two Warriors performed next and taught us all how to be true warriors through peace and love. Charles concluded this month’s Open Mic Series by performing a couple of untitled raps.

As mentioned before, this month’s feature was Melissa Li. A singer/songwriter from Boston, she wrote a musical called “Surviving the Nian” which received some well-deserved praise  this past year. She shared her recent experience being on the “Hong Kong Karaoke Idol.” Melissa Li displayed her multi-talents by playing her guitar to near perfection. Her style was unlike any other as she pour her life stories into her songs and we were privileged for her to share it with us in the audience. She was truly an original one of a kind performer.

[Editors' Note: Stay tuned for some highlights from August's open mic.]

Tags: Open Mic, Recaps.

 

 Interview with Melissa Li [19:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

On the 6th of July, I was fortunate enough to sit down with the young and talented Melissa Li, a singer-songwriter from Boston. Her musical, “Surviving the Nian”, recently was produced by The Theater Offensive here in Boston. I got to see it when it was playing in April and I thought it was wonderful. So did Giles.

A self-taught guitar player, Melissa has a variety of artistic interests. Besides writing songs and musicals, she loves writing screenplays and directing films. She even runs her own production company. And apparently, she recently placed third in a Karaoke contest. Yes, she’s multi-talented. Maybe you could say she’s an artistic polymath maybe.

Oh yeah, and besides being able to play piano, violin, and viola, she also likes to share her craft with others by teaching others how to write songs. Maybe you can ask her to teach you.

After you’ve listened to our podcast, you should all go to the August East Meets Words Open Mic. Melissa Li will be the featured artist. She tells me (and all her other Facebook buddies) that she’s going to do a 30 minute set and tell one knock-knock joke. Does this girl not know how do something?

And by the way, I apologize for the dorkiness of the interviewer. Just ignore him if you can.

Tags: Interview, Podcasts.

On August 10, 2007, the East Meets Words Open Mic, hosted by the Boston Progress Arts Collective, will feature Melissa Li. Melissa has been a participant at many of the East Meets Words Open Mic events in the past, but this will be her first time featuring. She is a talented singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and playwright and recently was awarded a prestigious Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation grant. Come see her play some music and tell a knock-knock joke at the East Meets West Bookstore at 934 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, MA.

Tags: Open Mic.

SURVIVING THE NIAN
A World Premiere musical
Music and Lyrics by Melissa Li
Book by Melissa Li and Abe Rybeck
Directed by Patrick Wang
Musical Director Juri Panda Jones
Featuring Megumi Haggerty, Abria Smith, Mariko Kanto, Hyunsoo Moon, Gary Ng, Judy Tan

“Winner of the 2007 Jonathan Larson Award for Musical Theater”

I had a chance to check out Surviving the Nian last week - the musical being produced by The Theater Offensive that Boston Progress friend Melissa Li has been working on since she was a teenager with Abe Rybeck. I honestly did not know what to expect: Melissa is an incredibly talented songwriter and musician, but I was only familiar with her music as sung by her from behind her own guitar. To me, musical theater is about as far from catchy folk-rock as you can get.

The audience is brought up to speed immediately, because it’s clear we’ll need the full length of the play for this family to work through its issues. Here’s the nice-and-tidy version: Kaylin Wu (Megumi Haggerty) is bringing her roommate/business partner/lesbian lover Asha - who also happens to be Black - to Hong Kong from Boston to meet the Wu family during the Lunar New Year celebration. Stubborn Mother Wu (Judy Tan), cheerful Uncle Tony (Gary Ng), and Kaylin’s boring and bitter brother Vincent (Hyunsoo Moon) have no idea of the true nature of Kaylin and Asha’s relationship. On top of that, they expect Kaylin to move back to Hong Kong to put her American degree to work helping the family business.

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Tags: Musical, Reviews.