Mimi Wallman

Born in California and raised in the South in the blue grass country of Kentucky and then finally the rich and densely foliaged Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, Mimi was informed by the solitude of tress and spirits, her grandmother’s piano, and that frisson of sounds that permeated her body, like the wind that whistles and vibrates through a baby bird’s barbs, and is wrangled by the vane and rachis until finally it took flight. She had barely scratched the surface of how her instrument was to develop, stepped into the house music of Chicago — after a heavy metal background, hearing her voice on a radio station here as a soul singer, exploring commercial music, industrial, and finally studying voice and poetry on scholarship, dovetailing into jazz until she found her own voice. Then she joined the mighty ONO band, which took her into reals of improvisation and performance that changed her forever. Mimi creates the entire movement and narrative live, right in front of you, a slight of hand and twist of face, and builds this moment that is now for your ears and eyes to witness. Mimi Wallman is a mother, a nurse, and a deep dreamer who cares.