by Alec Hill
Mountaintop Musicians, the campus collective of the harmonically inclined, has thrown two events in as many weeks this October, first at the Bairnwick Women’s Center on Thursday the 10th, and then at the Green House on the 17th. With over 50 people in attendance at different times during each two-hour event, roughly a dozen performers sang songs, recited poems, and told classic jokes.
With Joey Moradian(C’15) serving as Master of Ceremonies – assisted by Frank Hand (C’13) during the first event – the audiences was treated to the likes of Saunders Drukker (C’17), who improvised mixes on guitar of Johnny Cash and The Black Keys,and Jourdan Redden who played a trio of original songs written during his time with a band in high school called The HushPuppies. Bella Lilley (C’17) added to the impressive freshman turn-out with her performances on guitar, highlighted by a cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love.”
Upperclassmen John Cochran (C’15) and Abbey Moore (C’16) delivered versions of some vintage classics, including a nameless rockabilly tune by Gene Vincent, with John on guitar and Abbey on Banjo. Following the musical performances, Sabol Rogers (C’16) and Taylor Lollar (C’16) recited poems by Anis Mojgani, an Austin, Texas based poet whose free-verse stylings found eloquent voice in the pair of sophomores.
At several different points in the first evening, Richard Milby (C’15), came to the stage for one of his classic jokes. Hi-jinks, punch lines, and general hilarity ensued at every instance. The secondevening, held indoors at the Green House because of rain, was highlighted by Geology Professor Bran Potter leading campfire-style sing-alongs.
“Mountaintop Musicians has really tried to up the number of events this year, and so far it’s been pretty successful,” organizer Joey Moradian commented. “It’s so great that people are coming out for these, but I just hope that it continues like this. I mean, we’re always going to want to hear music, we just have to keep people playing.”
If these fiddle-plucking, negligent hippies are to be taken at their word, many more events are to come over the course of the year, and judging from the previous two, it would be a mistake to miss out.