February 2022 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase
The February 2022 VOCAL Virtual Showcase featured two very talented VOCAL songwriters, Dean Broga and Jeff Wagner.
Dean opened the show with a variety of song themes. He started with Jersey, recounting his desire to get the heck out of the rat race in a large city and find a peaceful ranch in Wyoming. This is Dean’s first song and it has undergone several rewrites. The rocking/driving Open Road is his tribute to all the truckers out there and was written to meet the VOCAL challenge to write a trucker song. Life is a Dead End One-Way Street tells us we should just be nice to all the people we meet, as we are all going to end up in the same space, wondering why we ever joined the Human Race. Winter is a very beautiful and tender love song describing two lovers in the moonlight at midnight. This was another tune written to a VOCAL challenge for holiday/seasonal writing. He followed with another beautiful, romantic love song When I Met You (?), describing his love who found him when he was falling out of love and immediately took over his heart. Dean left us with Rodeo, inspired by hearing about a rodeo in Tulsa. Blue-eyed and pony-tailed in blue jeans describes the lady who stepped out of his dreams and caught his eye.
Jeff Wagner then took the virtual stage with several of his finely-honed folkish straight-from-the-heart tunes. He opened with The Reckless Kind, an older song of his that depicts his life according to some (I’ve sometimes resembled that remark!) He then sang a broken-heart-bound-to-be-mended song Sometimes a Fire Stops the Rain, where his strong heart is willing and able to jump in and save the pain of a distraught lover. Borderline describes a lot of folks in our ilk, where you’re pulling the 9-to-5 every day, but your heart has a side gig trying to come to life, writing the songs for all to hear. A newer song, Grace Street 1975 reminisces the old college years and the fun times had in all the great haunts. Yet another new song is Ruin My Day, an ode to a former lover after a tumultuous breakup. The Facts of Life was inspired by his becoming a grandfather and tells the tale of giving away his old guitar to his grandchild, where all the songs contained within were from the facts of life. My Ocean Girl is another new tune with a cool, island-inspired vibe, written for his wife. A lot of refreshing and calming “beachey” images here to relax by! Sometime is another sad breakup song which tied for the Song of the Year award a couple of years ago. Another new breakup song was Devil in the Details, where the Devil is his memories, as he remembers all the sordid details! She Was Raised on Sad Songs speaks for itself, where she would rather go stand in the rain than stand in the bright lights. Jeff ended the evening with You Carry Me, a memorable and thoughtful tune written for his brothers, who were always there for him when he needed them most.
Another wonderful virtual VOCAL Showcase!
