It’s been over a decade since I added a songwriter to my life’s soundtrack — the music that plays when I’m by myself; songs that become the vehicle for my own feelings and melodies to emerge — but Mitski‘s entire catalog made the cut last year.

This talented human is unflinching in her willingness to march bravely inward, and unmatched by her peers in her relentless pursuit of truth as a songwriter.  In short: Mitski Miyawaki is the real deal.  

Watch Mitski’s “Happy” Video:

I caught up with Mitski this week in advance of her upcoming Portland show at Wonder Ballroom.  We talked about music, self-care, mental health and more.  Read our chat below.

Logan Lynn: Hi Mitski! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat. I know you are in the midst of a super busy tour right now. How long are you on the road for this round of shows?

Mitski: I can’t really tell anymore. This west coast tour is two weeks long, but I have tours back to back after it, so I won’t be “off the road” until August. I used to think of my life on the road as somehow separate from my life off the road, as if tour was this thing I had to get through in order to get to my “real” life off the road. But now that I’m on the road more than not, I’ve had to shift my thinking away from looking at my life in chunks of time – it’s unhealthy to think of 9 months out of a year as “not the real part.” So now I just focus on what I’m doing each day. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you to Providence Health, Robin Henderson and Tyler Norris for inviting me to come tell my story and talk about how the Keep Oregon Well movement came to be at the launch of their new, national Institute for Mental Health and Wellness. It is an honor to be creating this new world with all of you!

And thanks to my advocacy partner / chosen sister Sheila Hamilton for always sitting in the front row when I do this public trauma response routine. You can watch her video of me addressing the crowd here:

And here are a handful of photos from our time in the Bay: