Song & Story

Upon returning from Nashville I was talking with my former co-worker, Bob Ralph, and we decided that Bluebird Café rocks. It is a small, unassuming bar/restaurant in Nashville that brings in veterans and newcomers in the songwriting business and the restaurant serves as a sort-of listening room for patrons. The musicians sit in-the-round, talk about their songs, and then perform them. The night I attended I got to hear the guy that wrote the one hit wonder “This is the story of a girl, who cried a river and drowned the whole world…” and then the song Garth Brooks made famous, “Thunder Rolls”.

Since Bob and I decided that Bluebird Café rocks, and that Denton’s talent is just shy of what Nashville has to offer, we started our own event called Song & Story that models the very thing that Bluebird Café puts on. The 2^nd Monday of every month at The Hydrant in Denton, TX you will find 4 songwriters sitting in a circle with their guitars or keyboards and sometimes a harmonica or tambourine in tow. Some of the songwriters are in local bands, others acoustic performers, and some are singer/songwriters.

Tonight I got to hear a great round of music at Song & Story from Josh Mauk, Elise Petroski, Ronnie Fauss, Vanessa Peters, and MC Hansen. I loved the variety in background that the musicians brought to the table. Josh shared a song that he wrote as a worship leader for Kids’ Village, while Ronnie told a story of witnessing the tragic death of a loved one when he was a child, Elise shared a song about young love, MC talked about how we should cut Judas some slack because we’ve all got a little Judas in us and Vanessa sang about how she tried to “make it” in Austin and couldn’t quite carve out her niche.

Song & Story has been a great venue to bring together songwriters and folks that just like to hear good music and have a cup of coffee with friends. I have enjoyed watching the interaction between the musicians that perform, and getting to see the bonds that form between them as they share their songs and stories for 2 hours together. Every month The Hydrant is packed with people there to hear the great music, so now I need to figure out what is next. Maybe a compilation CD? A podcast? T-shirts? Let me know if you have any ideas or requests so that we can grow this event .