We have among us people who have been performing professionally and semi-professionally for many years, people who have never been in front of an audience, and every variation in between. Some of our members have many albums to their name, and some have never set foot in a studio.
Some of our members have sold songs to famous artists. Some play multiple instruments, and some don’t. We have singers and non-singers. Some of us focus on melody and harmony, and some on lyrics. Our group includes younger folks, and more “experienced” folks. Our musical styles and influences include folk, Americana, blues, rock, jazz, zydeco, pop, country, bluegrass.
We used to meet — in person (remember that?) every 4th Wednesday of the month, starting at 7:00 PM, in the L.L. Rice room of the Jefferson Center, in Roanoke. The meeting would start at 7:30.
Covid-19 has affected our group, just as it’s affected everyone on the planet. We now meet via Zoom sessions, same time and schedule. If you are a member, you will get notification of this meeting via our Google group. If you are interested in visiting us, tell an SVSA member or hit the “Contact Us” button on this site, and we’ll send you an invitation.
The meeting generally starts with a brief summary of club business, then sometimes some sort of short workshop or presentation, and then we get down to the business of critique-ing songs. Members submit recordings of their songs, including lyric sheets. There is a short setup, then the recording is played (or sometimes the song is performed live), and then members comment, and write other comments on the lyric sheets.
Members are coached to be honest, thoughtful, gentle and supportive, and you are virtually guaranteed that your song will come out better on the other end, if you’re open to the idea.
“SVSA has provided a welcoming and enriching environment for exploring songwriting skills and growing greater confidence as a writer.
I am pleased to serve as President along with an active forward-thinking Board. We hope to see SVSA thrive as it continues to provide a safe space for creative artists to find support and enjoy a sense of community with other songwriters and musicians.”
From the Latrobe, PA coffeehouses of the 1960’s, where he amazed audiences using only two, 2-finger chords to play every song in the folk cannon, to the bars and festivals of 1970’s Berlin, Germany, where he amazed audiences by playing every song in the county music songbook with three, 3-finger chords. Ah, the ability to bend every melody to fit the I, V, IV chords and the obliviousness of youth!
The journey from Pennsylvania to Roanoke included a degree in Theater and Music, a couple of Masters’ Degrees, 32 years in the U.S. Army, and another 10 years as a Federal Civil Servant. He retired in 2015 after having served as the Chief of Performing Arts and the Deputy Superintendent at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, in Vienna, VA. Through all of the journey, music went with him in the form of an acoustic guitar and, eventually, several more chords, that eventually used 4 fingers.
David is influenced by Irish, Scottish and American traditional and modern folk music. He began songwriting in earnest in 2018 and is lucky to count John McCutcheon, John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson as his teachers. He works with the 3rd Street Coffeehouse and made his Roanoke performing debut on its virtual stage in 2020.
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.
