If you’re not Australian, you probably haven’t heard of Megan Washington, the superstar singer-songwriter from Brisbane. Well, listen up, because your life will be greatly enhanced if you do. Especially lucky are those who get to see her live (she’s currently touring with Kaki King). Megan Washington has a story for every song, and she tells them to the audience in a charming accent. The stories are filled with jokes, crowd interactions and personal confessions that make you love her almost instantly.

Megan Washington opened for Kaki King last Thursday at Mississippi Studios, and the large crowd there stood in rapt attention while she sang and told stories. Perhaps the most memorable moment was when Megan told us what she thought of all of Kaki’s guitars, which were on display behind her. She went around pointing to them in turn, saying things like “That one’s nice, that one’s an attention whore, and that one (pointing to Kaki’s hybrid harp/guitar), that one’s name is Unis.” The audience cracked up.

Megan Washington is a modern day troubadour, weaving real life events into songs that affect the listener long after she’s stopped singing. Megan told a story to the audience about a gorilla named Bokito who lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in an enclosure at a zoo. A woman was obsessed with Bokito, and she visited him every day for nearly eight years. She was in love with him, it seemed. But one day, Bokito escaped from the enclosure and crushed her to death. She then sang an absolutely moving song that I was able to record. Here it is:

Megan Washington was a delight to see. If you’d like to find out more about her, visit her website. Or go see her play. She’s touring with Kaki King, and they are currently hitting the East coast.