PoBev brings musicians and poets together
Walt Whitman said, “to have great poets there must be great audiences, too.” At USU both poet and audience come together at Poetry and a Beverage, a once-a-month open-mic style performance of the written word and music, accompanied by a beverage. This Saturday’s PoBev, at 9 p.m. in the Hub, will be a tribute to the artists, people and events that inspired the performers, organizer Megan Mitchell said.
A public relations and marketing junior and coordinator of this month’s event, Mitchell regularly helps ASUSU with programming and arts and lectures. She said even though she doesn’t usually perform, she enjoys watching people who are talented.
“It’s a great way to showcase the talent we have here and have people come and participate,” she said.
Elaborating on the chosen theme, Mitchell said performers are looking to anyone and anything that has inspired them; from authors, musicians and artists to family, friends and memories. This PoBev, she said, is acting more as a platform for people to come share their talent and ideas.
“There’s a wide variety of people,” she said. “I want people to know anyone can perform. I want them to know that they can come up and share what they want to say.”
One of the on-campus groups that often populates PoBev is the Independent Music Club (IMC). Amy Nguyen, co-president of the IMC and a junior in anthropology, said she has played and read at past events and looks forward to performing this weekend.
“I just like to perform in front of people,” Nguyen said. “It’s a really good opportunity because there are a lot of people who come.”
Nguyen said the IMC hasn’t held open-mic nights this semester, so Poetry and a Beverage has been paramount in letting the members get performance experience.
She said, “Any time there’s an open-mic we let them know that this is where they can show off their talents and perform.”
Nguyen said she does see an increased interest in the IMC after a PoBev. This might be because of the assumed interests of those attending.
“If they enjoy things like Poetry and a Beverage,” she said, “they’d probably enjoy Independent Music Club because we have a different dynamic in our club concerning poetry and performing.”
She said if people are attending PoBev, “they probably want to experience more poetry and music events and we put on a lot of that through out the year.”
Sarah Avila, an undeclared junior and IMC member, plans to get on stage and said she will play a song and read a poem, both of which are her own creations. Avila said the atmosphere of PoBev is enhanced by the variety of the audience.
“There are a lot of different types of people that go,” she said. “You can really broaden your friendship group with different types of people rather than the same people you hang out with or the same group you go to shows with.”
Avila said she doesn’t expect people to be “blown away,” but she performs for herself and looks forward to having a broader audience than her usual friends. This, she said, also helps the IMC.
“It gives us the opportunity to reach out to people who normally wouldn’t be familiar with the program and who might be interested in it,” she said.
Nguyen said the variety is part of what makes PoBev enjoyable. She said “it’s a good place to see and hear the new, emerging artists.”
Though she is excited about performing, Nguyen said the theme for this Saturday’s event is “scary” to her. What has influenced her lately, she said, is the spoken-word poetry of Buddy Wakefield, both in his content and execution. T.J. Pratt, sophomore in music education and Mr. USU, is a member of the IMC who also admires Buddy Wakefield.
“Personally, I believe spoken word poetry is the new thing or the new ‘it’ for this generation,” Pratt said. “It’s a medium that anyone can tap into. We need to realize in our generation that the power lies in our voice.”
Pratt has been involved with music and writing since junior high, he said, but it developed and deepened in the last three years. While he has performed in PoBev several times, Pratt said he doesn’t think the event is following its original intention this year.
“I feel that PoBev needs to be more poetry and as of late it’s been a lot of bands and guitarists,” he said. “I don’t have anything against that but if it’s going to be poetry and a beverage, it needs to have more poetry.”
This, Pratt said, was the first motivation behind starting the Slam Poetry Club, of which he is now the president. He said it “really upsets” him to see a large number of bands at PoBev, which gave him the initiative to go through the process of starting the club this semester.
“I’m not judging at all,” he said. “What I’m saying is that PoBev just isn’t Poetry and a Beverage; it’s more band and a beverage.”
Pratt said he appreciates the theme and believes inspiration can come from anywhere.
“Usually, it’s something I can relate to, whether by performing or writing,” he said. “I believe the power lies in your voice. Everyone has a story.”
He hopes to develop PoBev in the next couple years, Pratt said, by getting more poets on stage. He hopes encouraging the members of the Slam Poetry Club to perform will help with his cause.
“I would encourage everybody to get out and come to PoBev,” Pratt said, “even if you aren’t a poet, even if you don’t get onstage.”
Mitchell encouraged anyone interested to come and enjoy the event.
“It’ll be an atmosphere where you can come hang out and socialize and drink hot chocolate,” she said. “Come, chill, hangout, have fun.”
Pratt also encouraged students to attend.
“PoBev is, and hopefully in the future it will be, about a mic a voice and a future,” he said.
– k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu