Song Spotlight: Rhiannon Lewis' Be My Enemy (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

Sometimes I have to be rather persistent in my Internet research when I want to write up a blog post about an artist with somewhat limited information available. I came across Rhiannon Lewis at a WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy and was immediately intrigued. They just had a quirky personality, "I did decide tonight to prioritize the vibe of the setlist over the logistics of the setlist. So you may see me hopping around from instrument to instrument." That hopping around consisted of switching between a couple acoustic guitars throughout the set. 

Rhiannon Lewis at Hotel Ziggy

There was no setlist so I took down some quick notes about each song and figured I'd just find the songs on Spotify. It was only a 6 song setlist and I figured it wouldn't be all that difficult. At least I knew the first song was called "Ink Stains" which meant I only needed to track down 5 other songs. A few days passed and I got down to writing this blog post. Since I knew I didn't have their setlist, the first thing I did was go looking for a Rhiannon Lewis on Spotify. Nothing came up. Oh no. 

I went to their Instagram page and found a link to a graduate recital at CalArts (you can watch it here). I glanced at few moments of the video and it was an orchestral piece of work. Now if I had jumped ahead, I would have realized that the recital was split between an orchestral composition and singer-songwriter tunes. I decided to give it another try. I did another Internet search on "Ink Stains" and a Youtube video of the same recital popped up from their own Youtube site and that one had a program of all the songs played (you can watch it here). That, of course, was when I realized that the back half of the recital was dedicated to singer-songwriter tunes.

Rhiannon Lewis at Hotel Ziggy

I was able to piece together three additional songs based on the watching the video. I have an idea what the fourth song title is, but don't want to just toss out a random song. I wrote down that the song had an Enya vibe to it so there was a song in the recital that did match that vibe, but who knows. 

There was one missing song (which I took a video of and so I knew exactly all the lyrics). That one was missing from the recital. I decided to scan through the rest of their Youtube videos. Persistence paid off and I found the song: "Be My Enemy". The song was written when they were in elementary or middle school. Part of me wonders if they got in trouble with the school for writing this song - sometimes I read about kids posting stuff on social media and then getting in trouble with the school for doing so. Or maybe it went under the radar.

Rhiannon Lewis at Hotel Ziggy

You keep your distance.
I’ll keep mine.
As long as you hate me, I know we’re fine.
Because we’ll be enemies until the end of time.

After playing the song, Lewis told the clapping Hotel Ziggy crowd, "That's the first song I wrote that I like enough to continue playing to this day." 

Moment of the set: after finishing "More Than You", Lewis gave that look into the audience indicating that they better cheer loudly. 

Partial Setlist (one song missing): Ink Stains, Be My Enemy, Arizona, More Than You, Sing in the Middle.