Being a songwriter in the Capital District is often a solitary pursuit.
Local songwriters often perform solo, taking the stage at local coffeehouses with just their guitars and the music they write.
Kevin Wayne found himself wanting a little company.
I thought it’d be so much cooler if my songs were filled out a little, he said.
So Wayne got some fellow songwriters together, and they found a drummer and a bassist to accompany them. They regularly jam at Wayne’s house, and on Sunday, Nov. 22, the Songwriters Jam Band will hold `Singing for Their Supper,` a benefit concert for the Regional Food Bank. The First Unitarian Universalist Society in Albany will host the concert from 2 to 6 p.m.
Like Wayne, Chrissie VanWormer, the only female songwriter taking part in the event, likes the way the Songwriters Workshop fosters a spirit of collaboration.
`Music is more about a few people doing it together,` she said.
If that’s the case, why not join a band? Wayne said bands are hard work ` it takes a lot of effort `to get everybody dedicated.`
He became dedicated to songwriting about eight years ago, roughly two years after he’d started playing guitar. He had written poetry in college, and his professors thought he was `pretty good at it,` he said. So when a serious illness laid him up and he was laid off for six months, Wayne tried his hand at writing music.
Not long after, he joined the NorthEast Country Music Association, where he met several other songwriters. They began holding some impromptu jam sessions, and Wayne pitched his idea to get together on a more regular basis.
It wasn’t necessarily an easy sell, Wayne said, as songwriters are used to working alone. But soon, the jams became popular.
`I think once they started hearing how good it sounded, they became more open to it,` Wayne said.
VanWormer said that songwriters aren’t afraid to speak up if the collaboration isn’t going quite as they hoped. Just recently, for instance, she had to implore the drummer to slow down.
`He was speeding up,` she said. `I just told him, ‘You’re pushing me.’`
It’s important, she said, for songwriters to preserve their sound, but at the same time, she and her fellow songwriters are grateful for what the bassist and drummer bring to the table.
`You add that drum and suddenly the song has a heartbeat,` she said. Add the bass, `and it kind of walks up your body.`
VanWormer played a number of songs growing up, but these days she concentrates on the guitar, which she learned from her brother. After one lesson, her brother told her to write a song, and she protested that she wasn’t a songwriter.
Anyone can write a song, he told her. The trick was to `look inside yourself,` find a feeling and write a song about it.
So that’s what VanWormer did. That initial effort wound up on her debut CD, and people often tell her it’s their favorite of all her songs, she said.
She still takes that approach to songwriting, and she’s often surprised at how easily songs come to her. More than once, she’s wondered if she actually heard a song on the radio before she wrote it.
`Those songs come very fast,` she said. `They would come in fully formed.`
VanWormer’s workflow slowed in recent months, though, as she battled an illness that left her unable to use her right arm. The benefit concert will mark the first time she’s performed since February. She’s excited to be doing it with the Songwriters Jam Band, crediting Wayne with bringing the group together.
`He’s really trying to build a camaraderie,` she said.
She said the food bank is a great cause, especially with the way the economy has been and the fact the holidays are approaching, a sentiment Wayne echoed.
Wayne explained that the event will feature eight local songwriters, who will each perform four songs. Special guests 2Late and J. Peter Yakel and Flood Road will play separate sets. Wayne stressed that the songwriters will perform in a variety of genres, even if the event is sponsored by the NorthEast Country Music Association.
Admission is $7 per person or $5 with a non-perishable food donation. Concessions will be provided by the New Russia Cultural Center. The venue is at 405 Washington Ave. in Albany. “