Though he appreciates the receptive and attentive audience there, he finds the open mics are composed of, “usually a lot of amateur performers. If you want to hear something more engaging and inspiring, you’re better off going to Club Passim on another night.”

All four musicians feel that the lack of venues on campus is a major problem, and several are taking the initiative to create environments more appropriate for the singer-songwriter style. Matt Cantor has participated in events held by the Harvard Music Performance Series, a club founded by sophomores Amy R. Wong ’06 and Lisa A. Park ’06 to give students better access to Harvard’s concert sites.

Mahmoud has also organized the WINC Coffeehouse, a series of shows for singer-songwriters and spoken word artists to perform for a largely Harvard-based audience.

Mahmoud says that the two WINC Coffeehouses so far, both held in Winthrop JCR, have been huge successes. “We had a great turnout, over 100 people the first show, and at least over 70 the next show,” she says.

She credits this success to the events’ novel concept. “I think people responded well to the events because here really wasn’t anything like them on campus,” she says.

As Mahmoud prepares to graduate this spring, she faces the task of delegating responsibilities to another equally dedicated artist. So far, the response has been quite strong. “We have plenty of freshmen who are interested in WINC,” she says, “so it’s about instilling that value within them.”

Carlisle also plans to start her own coffeehouse events in Quincy House, with the help of non-resident tutor Dan Gonzalez. The monthly shows will feature a different guest artist, as well as three student performers. “Our hope is that this event will help Harvard students connect with performers outside the University,” says Carlisle.

The three artists who have previously performed in Arts First have nothing but praise for the event, in which all four singers plan on participating this weekend. Matt Cantor will present a folk/rock concert with fellow musicians Joe J. Gatti ’06 and others in Pforzheimer House at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 9. Liz Carlisle will hold a C.D. release party in the Quincy JCR at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. She will also play Loker Commons at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Jasmine Mahmoud will also be playing a solo show at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Loker Commons. Wax will appear at a Harvard Music Performance Series event in Sanders Theatre at 4 p.m. on Saturday, along with a show this weekend at the Gato Rojo.

BUILDING A COMMUNITY

The question of community is perhaps the foremost interest for the campus singer-songwriters. To varying degrees, all four interviewees feel that no tight-knit cooperative spirit really exists among the Harvard folk community, and their explanations are wide-ranging.

The overwhelming strength of the a cappella scene at Harvard provides an easy scapegoat for performers who constantly face the discouraging scenario of a cappella groups securing top venues like Sanders with relative ease.

Cantor points to the naturally communal spirit of a cappella as the reason for its curiously high popularity in colleges. “A cappella is a social thing—there are a lot of people onstage, and all of them can draw an audience,” says Cantor. “Singer songwriters are more of a lone presence, which may not be as easy to immediately enjoy as a cappella.”

Carlisle also notes that perhaps Harvard’s relatively small size and homogeneity may hold some responsibility. “Race, class, gender and nationality aside, we’re all students and we’re all about the same age,” she says, explaining this may make it difficult for the College “to create that sort of community on its own.”

However, the problem may not lie in the campus at all, but may simply be an essential part of creating music as a solo artist. “Being a singer-songwriter is tough because the nature of writing the songs is often an incredibly introverted process,” says Wax. “You spend a lot of time alone, and it can be very frustrating because after three hours of work, you might not have anything you’d actually want to play to another human being.”