Music ... makes the Vigets ... come together

Communal music-making is a huge part of my life.

I’m in a cover band — not to hear myself sing, but to get people dancing. There’s nothing like connecting so elementally with someone that they’re inspired to get on the floor like Kate McKinnon doing a Gins-burn (sigh).

I grew up on Korr family sing-alongs, and dream of bringing sing-alongs into the 21st Century. There's nothing more heartwarming-slash-cathartic than getting together with some acoustic guitars and tambourines and screaming at the top of our lungs, what’s going on. (And I say heeyyy, yeah, yeah, yeah.)

And while communal music is mostly paused in Covid times, I’ve found some of the same connection and feels in an unlikely place: Viget’s weekly and quarterly company meetings, aka Free Lunch Friday and Third Third Thursday.

A bunch of Vigets have been making music videos to kick off FLF or as interstitial TTT segments. And they are simply delightful!

Here are three things I love about these organic musical endeavors.

We are human

I love the vulnerability, strength, and emotion that shine through all the performances:

• Amy’s boundless smile, inviting us to share in her sheer joy, and Grace’s eyes-closed channeling of Lucius on "Dusty Trails."
• Peyton’s yearning falsetto on "Let It Be."
• Owen’s I'm-just-along-for-the-ride grins as his daughter Audrey commands the room on "Wait for It," from Hamilton.
• Angela and Brandon’s calm piano mastery.

The songs mark time’s progress and Viget’s 20-year history: Four Vigekids have contributed, including the first to reach collegiate age.

There are musical and production warts, nerves and wobblies. (Except for Angela and Brandon — calm mastery!) But like Viget’s unofficial motto of “progress, not perfection,” these are all about “people, not perfection.”

We contain multitudes

I love glimpsing personality details:

• Becky and her husband's period-piece panache
• Amy and Ashley's uke-and-vox dual personas
• Eli’s porkpie hat
• A Yoda (and legit-looking mic) on Chris’s piano
• Curt’s eighties-Springsteen bandana

Sometimes it’s more than a glimpse — it’s a whole new side of someone. I’ve known Brandon for 5 years. We’ve collaborated on projects, brain-jammed over beers. And I had no idea he played piano at all, let alone like a concert pianist.

We are together

I love seeing the 😭  emojis in Slack, and the realmojis on people’s faces, during a performance.

This one’s especially meaningful for me. I returned to Viget in April after two years in the (metaphorical) wilderness; two weeks after a (mentally) harrowing escape from Morocco; and amid Covid’s (mind-boggling) initial wreckage.

Viget’s togetherness has helped me keep it together through these months. I’m sure I’m not alone.

And each musical number is a toe-tapping, smile-inducing reminder. 💙 🧡