The Hattie Redmond Woman and Gender Center welcomes back The Tiny Kitchen Concert with their new addition of an open-mic and karaoke. 

Held once per term at the HRWGC, the Tiny Kitchen Concert offers a platform for local artists to share their talent as well as showcasing local student bands.

Julia Huang, coordinator of the Tiny Kitchen Concert and community relations representative at the HRWGC, shared her thoughts before going into the recent kickoff event, held Nov. 10.  

According to Huang, she was nervous as it was the Tiny Kitchen Concert’s first show with the newly added open mic and karaoke.

 “I had my doubts about open mic, and I was a little nervous but people showed up,” Huang said.

It was a successful event, about 45 people came to the HRWGC, where people signed up ‘back to back’ for karaoke up until the band segment, which was the second hour of the two hour event.  

The band featured this term was Polypore, an Art Punk/Emo band in the Corvallis community.

“We try to play a variety of shows so that we can appeal to everyone who wants to listen to us,” PolyPore said. “Since a lot of our recent shows have been a bit more on the rowdy side, it was great to play a show that appealed more to folks who aren’t as comfortable in those spaces.”

The show was a success according to both PolyPore and Julia.

“The turnout was great and we met a lot of wonderful people,” Polypore said.

According to Huang, she was worried about showcasing this band as they are a bit louder, but it ended up working out well for everyone at the event and the noise was not an issue.

 “I’m just looking forward to continuing this,” Huang said. “I’m really excited that people actually really enjoyed this event.”

One thing Huang would change for the next term would be the layout as the couches in the back of the room caused people to avoid standing in front of them, creating an open space near the performers. 

Emceeing was host of Spilt Milk, a local podcast. Huang explains they had brought a great presence to the event. She added that they were funny and had really good transitions between artists.

You can expect the next Tiny Kitchen Concert next term with continued open mic and karaoke as well as another featured band that has not been disclosed at this time. Please contact the HRWGC or Julie Huang for more information.