Southwest Virginia Songwriters Association
Songwriters Showcase
When: September 9, 2011, 7:30 pm
Where:
3rd Street Coffee House, Roanoke, VA.
Corner of 3rd Street and Mountain Ave.
Cost: Free (Pass the hat)
Corner of 3rd Street and Mountain Ave.
You are invited to hear a fantastic selection of great songs, written by members of the Southwest Virginia Songwriters Association. Eight songwriters will perform, in the round, a collection of their own original tunes that range from folk to jazz and funny to poignant.
The SVSA is an organization of talented songwriters, performers and musicians who live in and around the Roanoke area. SVSA brings together songwriters from a wide range of musical genres. The group includes professional songwriters with recording and publishing credits, and amateur songwriters looking to hone their skills and learn more about the music business.
About the Performers
Aspen Black is a performing songwriter of western, folk, country, and Christian music. She plays as a solo act at a variety of venues from coffee houses, to churches, to local and regional festivals. She successfully started act in Spring of 2011 where she sings and dances from the back of her horse, Foxie’s Gambler (you’ve got to see the horse do the Electric Slide …). She also headlines a new Christian Band called Cowgirls to the Cross. Aspen’s music is available for download on standard websites, and a fall/winter CD is in production. Aspen has been performing professionally since 1993. Her first two albums (released in 1993 and 1994) had singles that charted on commercial country charts. Her recent work includes two western albums (2003 and 2009) which both received airplay on western radio stations across the US. More about Aspen at www.cowboypoetry.com/aspenblack.
David Bowen has been singing and playing guitar for almost 40 years. David uses a “flat-picker” style to accompany his mellow baritone voice and sometimes adds a harmonica in the Bob Dylan tradition. He applies this technique to the songs of Tom Paxton, Jim Croce, John Stewart, the Kingston Trio, John Denver and so many others of “that era” as well as his own compositions. His early song writing reflect the events of his military service – from the Vietnam conflict, then reflecting on many of the places he visited/lived with each military transfer, and with his faith. Because of his many travels, David has been very fortunate to be in many musical groups – from rock-and-roll cover bands to praise teams. Currently, he is “getting back into music” after several years of being musically stagnant, and is building up a new group – “Acoustic Reset” as both a solo performer as well as asking friends to share their musical talents along with him.
Learn more about David at www.acousticreset.com.
Mike Franke was ruined musically by a middle school teacher who tried in vain to get him to play bari sax, and then trombone.
Not until college did he pick up a guitar and teach himself to play it while manning an all-night gas station.
Mike started performing in San Francisco, where he ran an Open Mic night and hatched his fantasy of someday
"getting paid to sit in a coffeeshop."
Mike recently released his first CD, "What's Done Is Done," an all-original collection of fingerstyle blues and slide guitar tunes
about regular stuff.
Check him out at mikefrankemusic.com.
Josh Jones grew up in Bluefield, West Virginia on the skirts of East River Mountain. He hasn’t played with anyone widely famous. Nobody’s reviewed him. Some well-known musicians have heard him play, though, and said some very nice things with straight faces. He’s played in bands around Roanoke and, on rare occasions, at Third Street Coffeehouse and the Kirk Avenue Music Hall. He’s released four sets of songs as CDs in his project studio, The Shop. He wrote, arranged, played, sang, recorded and mixed nearly all of them. Josh’s songs tell stories of the people and places he’s known, studied or passionately imagined. Some are haunted, some are tales of love, redemption, loyalty and friendship.
Mike Pearrell is a West Virginia born songwriter/ singer who blends strong lyrics with a combination of country, rock and folk styles with an occasional taste of pop/jazz. His debut CD “Dimestore Detective” is an eclectic mix of original songs that capture insightful views of relationships and the world. Mike has served as president of the Southwest Virginia Songwriters Association and is a veteran of the Swannanoa Gathering and other songwriting and music camps, studying with such acclaimed songwriters as Tom Paxton, Bob Franke, Steve Gillette, Cosy Sheridan and others.
Mike was a semifinalist in the 2003 Mountain Stage NewSong competition. Mike’s website: www.webliminal.com/songwrite/pearrell.
Neal Phillips is a Philadelphia-area singer/songwriter with a dry sense of humor and a flair for intelligent, evocative lyrics and melodies. His thought-provoking and often pointedly funny songs have been performed by Bob Zentz, Holly & Glenn Yarbrough, Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen, and Pete Seeger, among others. His writing touches on matters both profound and mundane, from the global significance of stackable chairs to the life and times of Roy G Biv; from the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay to the devil's squeaky shoes in a Baltimore alley; from Claude Debussy & Claude Monet dancing in the moonlight to the quiet joys of walking home on a snowy midwinters' evening. Neal's songs have won several awards including the USA Songwriting Competition and the Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest. You can hear Neal's music on The Midnight Special, The Folk Sampler, Traditions, and other syndicated radio programs. More about Neal at www.phillipsmusic.net/neal.
David Simpkins is a Radford, Virginia-based performing songwriter David Simpkins and has been actively entertaining audiences for over 35 years — starting with 22 years in cover bands. Since 2000, David has been focusing on writing and performing his own Americana-style songs. He was a finalist in the Appalachian Fair "Best Unknown Country Songwriter" contest in 2000 and was the winner of the Floydfest Showcase Stage "Best Song" in 2002. David plays regular solo acoustic gigs, and has performed at numerous songwriters-in-the-round events, festivals, benefits, celebrations, songwriters’ nights, and open mics. His music has been played locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally on a number of commercial, public, and internet radio stations. David's publishes a monthly newsletter – “The Meadow Creek Gazette” – and you can subscribe by contacting David at amosflame@aol.com.
Greg Trafidlo has performed from Beijing, China to Cork, Ireland, -- the historic, Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to Wrigley Field. His songs have been performed by folk icons such as Pete Seeger, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, and recorded by numerous performers including renowned bluegrass artist, Charlie Sizemore. He has performed with Bill Monroe, Peter Yarrow, Tom Paxton, Kathy Mattea, Janis Ian and opened for Emmylou Harris, John Prine, John Hartford, John McCutcheon, Robin and Linda Williams and others. His songs appear on NPR's "Car Talk" and "Dr. Demento" compilations. He has extensive credits as a publisher and record producer of over forty releases and he appears on over 60 albums. Greg is Grand Prize winner of the prestigious Louisville Songwriting competition, and First Place winner in the USA Songwriting Competition. Greg has two Wammy nominations, for Best Folk Male Vocalist and Best Folk Album. Greg can be reached at www.gregtrafidlo.com.
Visit the Southwest Virginia Songwriters Association at www.svsasongs.com.