Sisivath Inthisone

Sisivath Inthisone learned to perform as a Molam, a singer of the traditional improvisational sung poetry of Laos called Lam, a rhythmic extemporaneous sung poetry, as a boy living in a rural province in central Laos. He enjoyed singing, and learned the skilled wordplay from an older friend who encouraged and instructed him. Later Sisivath deepened his interest while in high school, also continuing “to lam” orally. After resettling in the U.S., he organized a band to play at community festivals and parties, and is in demand here because there are few singers who can evoke the traditional content (courtship, village life, politics) and song style as a Molam. Lam remains very popular as a sort of Lao hip-hop, rhythmic, urgent, funny, vivid, competitive, and communal. Sisavath has served as President and Treasurer of the Lao Buddhist Temple in New Britain, Connecticut, and taught Lao language and arts at Lao Saturday School since 1997, and in the Southeast Asian After School Program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and coordinated by CCHAP. He shared musical skills with khene player Boualy Ratsombath in Year 10 of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. He was a machinist at Westinghouse Electric Co. for many years.