Introduction
Green Roombees - Interviews by Silvia Passiflora, Editor
A place to land
A rider is often understood as a list. Water, snacks, green M&Ms. But beneath the logistics lives something more essential: the small rituals, the particular comforts, the quiet conditions that help a person step into the light ready to give everything.
This series listens for those things. It asks artists to get precise — not performative, not a cliché — about what they actually need. And it asks the guardians in that orbit — the host, the producer, the sound engineer, the music store — what genuine hospitality looks like before the soundcheck.
What does it mean to make a stranger feel expected? Both are acts of self-knowledge. Both require a kind of courage most people don't associate with green rooms or guest beds.
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The green room is just the smallest, most human-scale version of the bigger question: do you know what you need, and are you willing to say it?
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The gap closes when everyone in that orbit decides to close it — before the artist knows to ask. The founder of this series answered her part of that question by publishing her own [hospitality and tech rider] permanently in her press kit. She invites every artist in these pages to consider doing the same.
Some of these artists have been documented in performance on the Scriptaluna Stages page. The room and the interview are two ways of meeting the same person.
Photo Credit: Silvia Passiflora Interviews by Silvia Passiflora for Scriptaluna
© 2026 Silvia Passiflora / Scriptaluna. All rights reserved.
Visit: Scriptaluna.com — Publishing House scriptaluna.com
Mikhayla Robinson (Smith), 2024-2026 Poet Laureate of Athens, Georgia and Community Organizer
Green Roombees is the inaugural interview series of Scriptaluna Press. It documents what touring artists and the people in their orbit actually need before a performance — not the mythology of the rider, but the real thing. These are candid snapshots, not curated profiles — the kind of answers that make you feel like you pulled up a chair in the green room and just asked.
If your rider came down to one thing, what would you keep? If you are a host, what would you offer?
If my Rider came down to one thing, I would keep music. Music has this amazing way of transforming my mood. Taking me deeper into poetic presence, turning anything I do into ritual, into communion. As a producer and musician myself, I feel this innate intimacy and tension with psalm and creativity. Music has a way of transporting me, allowing me to alchemize my energy. Similarly, I would offer meditative/ambient music for someone else to feel that same experience.
Is there a small comfort — food, drink, or habit — that helps you settle in before a show? If you are a host, what would you offer?
I recently released my first album, The Gospel As Told By Black Love, and what really helped me settle in, or rather who, was the presence of folks who loved me. It was so great to get last minute texts from folks who couldn't make it, sending me their love, my girlfriends checking in on me, and helping me with my makeup, and my dress, my friend dropping food off for me after only eating a bagel. My community is what keeps me going. As a host of the Athens writing group, Tattered Writers, I would offer the same: an encouraging word to the artist, my presence however they needed, a hug, a nudge to walk in confidence.
After a show, what helps you come back to yourself? If you are a host, what would you offer?
After a show, I really like to play it by ear. I let the energy take me wherever. If I'm tired I will rest, and dream about what took place. If I'm buzzing with excitement, I can take it to another spot to keep reading, be playful with poetry, go dancing, get dinner. As a host, I would make a list of activities/ places for the artist to either rest or convene after their show. It would be curated to their tastes/vibes so that they have the space and option to explore their energetic frame.
Where can people find you?
Folks can find me on instagram.com/mikhaylawrites, or on my website mikhaylawrites.com and album link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-gospel-as-told-by-black-love/1869713249
Photo courtesy of the artist, March 8, 2026
Interviews by Silvia Passiflora for Scriptaluna
© 2026 Silvia Passiflora/Scriptaluna. All rights reserved.
Visit: Scriptaluna.com — Publishing House scriptaluna.com
Frankie McCabe — Traveling Indie Musician
Frankie McCabe — Traveling Indie Musician
Green Roombees explores how artists — and those who support them — make themselves at home before a performance. In live music, a rider is often understood as a list of water and snacks, but this series looks deeper, documenting the small rituals, comforts, and conditions that help people arrive fully at a venue, especially while on the road. It listens for how performers and their guardians create a sense of temporary home before stepping onstage.
If your rider came down to one thing, what would you keep?
Non-fluoridated filtered water. or even better; some drinking water from a reputable spring source. Either way, preferably not in a plastic bottle. I don’t mess around about water.
What makes a Green Room feel livable to you?
I tend to feel uncomfortable in bougie environments. but at the same time, I don’t want the joint to feel grimy, either. Once in a venue in Seattle, the “green room” at a venue had a functional toilet in the middle of it, and dang it if that whole room didn’t smell like it’d been thoroughly misted with pee for years on end. We all had a laugh about it, but i didn’t wanna set my guitar down just about anywhere 😬
Is there a small comfort — food, drink, or habit — that helps you settle in before a show?
Probably a quality, low sugar, high cacao percentage dark chocolate bar.
After a show, what helps you come back to yourself?
Not that i regularly feel de-centered after a show; I usually feel pretty great! But throwing on some brainrot youtube might be good in such an event.
Where can people find you?
Frankiemccabe.com , Frankie McCabe on Youtube, @frankiemccabemusic on Instagram and Tiktok , and my duo Frankie & Gwen on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram
Photo credit: Frankie McCabe
J R Langwell — WRFG 89.3 FM Radio Host
Green Roombees explores how artists — and those who support them — make themselves at home before a performance. In live music, a rider is often understood as a list of water and snacks, but this series looks deeper, documenting the small rituals, comforts, and conditions that help people arrive fully at a venue, especially while on the road. It listens for how performers and their guardians create a sense of temporary home before stepping onstage.
If your rider came down to one thing, what would you keep? As the host of "Happy Grass with J R", with bluegrass programming, I would keep water and drinks and lots of snacks available!
What makes a Green Room feel livable to you? Comfortable furniture, make your guests feel comfortable
Is there a small comfort — food, drink, or habit — that helps you settle in before a show? I like water and hearing jazz music
After a show, what helps you come back to yourself? Thinking about positive things
Where can people find you? Email: jrtoadfrog12@gmail.com and requests at the studio 404-523-8989
Photo credit: J R Langwell
Interviews by Silvia Passiflora for Scriptaluna
© 2026 Silvia Passiflora / Scriptaluna. All rights reserved.
Visit: Scriptaluna.com — Publishing House scriptaluna.com
Silvia Passiflora — Van life Poet-songwriter
Green Roombees explores how artists — and those who support them — make themselves at home before a performance. In live music, a rider is often understood as a list of water and snacks, but this series looks deeper, documenting the small rituals, comforts, and conditions that help people arrive fully at a venue, especially while on the road. It listens for how performers and their guardians create a sense of temporary home before stepping onstage.
If your rider came down to one thing, what would you keep?
I travel and tour in my high-top campervan known as Hermie the #hottiemobile. So I require a safe, legal parking spot near the venue that I can easily enter and exit from. With a van with a kitchen and queen-size bed, comfort and home-cooked meals made being on the road, well, cozy.
What makes a Green Room feel livable to you?
Now that I have a van that’s basically my home on wheels with a practice studio, I use the #hottiemobile as my Green Room.
Is there a small comfort — food, drink, or habit — that helps you settle in before a show?
I love a hot coffee and caffeine jolt before a gig. But bars don’t usually have coffee makers, so I started bringing chocolate covered espresso beans. Plus, when I share them backstage, they’re always a hit!
After a show, what helps you come back to yourself? I have stacks of poetry books. I have poet friends so I’m probably reading someone’s newly published work.
Where can people find you? www.silviapassiflora.com
Photo credit: Silvia Passiflora
Interviews by Silvia Passiflora for Scriptaluna
© 2026 Silvia Passiflora / Scriptaluna. All rights reserved.
Visit: Scriptaluna.com — Publishing House scriptaluna.com