- -_ - My name's Angelica Hairston.

It's so great to take a little piece of a ATL across the globe.

- We are Lesibu Grand.

Yay.

I love writing music about what I love to see in the world.

I think people should be free to be who they are.

(discordant music) (traffic noise) - [Performer] One, two, three, four.

(discordant music) (air whooshes) (bell dings) ♪ Give me time (calm music) - Oh, two, three, four!

(lively music) - Don't make them hate me.

(bright music) (air whooshing) (lively music) (calm music) (air whooshes) (peaceful harp music) (peaceful harp music continues) (peaceful harp music continues) (peaceful harp music continues) (dramatic harp music) (peaceful harp music) (peaceful harp music) (dramatic harp music) (peaceful harp music) (dramatic harp music) - Hi, my name's Angelica Hairston, and it's so great to be here to play some music on this incredible instrument, the harp.

I started playing this instrument when I was 12 years old in sixth grade, and it just stuck.

The harp, the music, and really the study of classical music and beyond has taken me around the world, and it's so great to take a little piece of ATL across the globe just by playing this harp.

The first piece that I just played for you was a piece by Bach.

He's a very well-known and popular classical composer.

That was his "Andante" from "Violin Sonata No.

2," which has been arranged for the harp by Grandjany.

And this particular piece I actually learned when I was studying in Toronto.

I did my undergraduate in Toronto, and it was a time where I really started to get curious about what it meant for a young Black woman to be playing this instrument and also to be playing classical music, some worlds that sometimes felt a little bit disparate.

They didn't feel like they always connected.

But the beauty of the harp and the beauty of music is that it really connects the dots across the globe.

I had the chance to study in Ghana for a while and learn the history of the harp and its real African roots and how much this instrument has really influenced across the world.

So classical music really has this basis that so many artists, whether it's rap, whether it is hip hop, whether it is traditional folk music, we can see the way that classical music is actually still at the base of what's done.

And I think as a harpist, continuing to study this sort of traditional style and being able to share that with students in this city and across the world has really helped all of the genres continue to flourish and thrive.

There's so many brilliant composers, particularly composers of color, who are writing really important works through the classical style, and I think that we need to continue to celebrate and honor that style in addition to all of the others.

So throughout my career, I've been able to really collaborate across the bounds, and I think that's what classical music has allowed me to do, whether it's improvisation with a poet, really listening to those lyrics and creating music behind it, or, as we've spoken about, working with wellness practitioners who are guiding folks in these sort of different styles of relaxation and being able to create a new space and a new environment just by adding that live harp element as well.

(calm harp music) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) (dramatic harp music) (calm harp music) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) (calm harp music continues) Thanks so much for listening along with me today.

Again, my name is Angelica Hairston, a harpist, educator, and a change maker using this instrument to connect who we are around the globe through the tool of music.

(mellow music) - [Band Member] I'm ready.

- Mark it.

(clapperboard clicks) One, two, three, four!

(lively punk music) ♪ I don't wanna be an ordinary girl ♪ ♪ Sitting at home playing with my pearl ♪ ♪ I'm packing up my bags ♪ I'm off to see the world ♪ 'Cause I don't wanna be an ordinary girl ♪ ♪ And I don't wanna take you orders anymore ♪ ♪ So you better find someone else to mind your store ♪ ♪ The team to quit the band ♪ We're giving it a whirl ♪ 'Cause I don't wanna be an ordinary girl ♪ ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ It's not a bad thing to be an ordinary girl ♪ ♪ I'm sorry, it's not for me ♪ Sorry, it's not for me ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ And I know I'm probably gonna hear about it later ♪ ♪ So please kill me now with Darth Vader's saber ♪ ♪ My mama told me not to worry about the haters ♪ ♪ Haters ♪ So I'm sitting here stoned, eatin' mashed potaters ♪ ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ Is not a bad thing to be an ordinary girl ♪ ♪ I'm sorry, it's not for me ♪ Sorry, it's not for me ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa (lively punk music) ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ I don't think so ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ I don't think so ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ Girl ♪ I don't think so ♪ Not an ordinary, not an ordinary ♪ ♪ An ordinary girl ♪ Girl ♪ I don't think so ♪ Not an ordinary ♪ Not an ordinary girl - Hey, y'all, we're Lesibu Grande, and that was our song "Ordinary Girl."

My name is Tyler Simone, and on bass we have John Hutch Renaud.

And on guitar we have Brian Turner.

We wrote that song, "Ordinary Girl," because I was working in restaurants for a very long time, and I honestly wanted to quit, and so I did, and I started a a band with these beautiful people behind me.

And "Ordinary Girl" is about just being yourself and not going with the mainstream and just following your dream.

So I wanted to write a song to empower young girls who have dreams to do whatever it is that that may be.

Whether it's be a physicist or be a musician or anything in between, I think you should go and do that.

Don't be ordinary.

This next song, though, (chuckles) is also really fun and good.

It's called "Anarchy."

One, two, three, four!

(funky punk music) ♪ Thought I was gonna play a machine game ♪ ♪ Thought I was gonna do the same old thing ♪ ♪ I don't what made me, please let me explain ♪ ♪ I know your brain's probably going insane ♪ ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ What you think of me ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Just go away ♪ That's how the emptiness felt inside ♪ ♪ I sat there just trying to front a lie ♪ ♪ Make believe, oh, yeah, that's what they told ya ♪ ♪ Told ya ♪ You turn around and buy what they sold ya ♪ ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ What you think of me ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Just go away ♪ Go away, go away ♪ Go away, go away ♪ Go away, go away ♪ Go away, go away (upbeat punk music) ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ What you think of me ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Just go away ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ What you think of me ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Anarchy ♪ Oh, wow ♪ Just go away (funky punk music) ♪ Go away, go away ♪ Away We wrote that song back in the pandemic days when we were all locked up and we wanted to break free.

So as we all know, anarchy is about doing what you really wanna do instead of following all the rules that are enforced on us.

But as far as rules go, I think you should make your own rules, and as long as they're morally right, then go do it.

So this next song we're gonna play for you is called "Miranda."

And this song was written back in 2019, pre-pandemic.

And it's funny because if you've seen the video, we go to outer space, and so I kind of feel like it almost was a transitional video in a way.

It takes place in the 1950s, and it's a old married couple that's kind of living a mundane life.

And they are sitting down one day, and then all of a sudden they teleport to outer space, and they get lost and have to find each other.

So at the end of the video, they find each other, and it's kind of like a symbolic meaning behind them finding each other in outer space because sometimes you have to leave the monotony in order to find your way back home.

So that's what that song's about, and we're gonna play it for you real quick.

It's called "Miranda."

One, two, there, four!

(mellow punk music) ♪ Miranda ♪ Well, I know it's wrong ♪ And that's why you're gone ♪ Did you think that I would be okay ♪ ♪ Oh, no ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Miranda ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Miranda (upbeat punk music) ♪ Miranda ♪ You left me lyin' in a heap ♪ And the words you say, they cut me deep ♪ ♪ Did you think that I would be okay ♪ ♪ Oh, no ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Miranda ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Miranda (upbeat punk music) ♪ Miranda (spacey punk music) ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪ Take me by the hand ♪ Hand ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪ Take me by the hand ♪ Hand ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪ Take me by the hand ♪ Hand ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪ Take me by the hand - Two, three, four!

(upbeat punk music) ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Miranda ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ For you to come back to me ♪ So I'm counting the days ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ah ♪ Miranda - Thank y'all so much.

We are Lesibu Grande, and this is "Sounds Like ATL."

Bye!

Made in Georgia WABE