November 2021 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase
Tonight’s virtual showcase presented on Zoom and Facebook, featured Justin Laughter and Bill Kaffenberger.
Justin Laughter
Justin is a long time VOCAL member and besides performing his songs, has offered his legal advice to members of the group for many years at monthly meetings. Tonight he was playing a selection of his songs. “Sue” ( or candied apple) compared a recent love to “the coldest winter I’ve ever known”. “Short Roads” (rows?) refered to what farmers call the end of the crop when the fields are going into remission. Next was “1040EZ” in which the singer lets us know that he is a tax paying, debt free person. “Paul Revere” described the famous midnight ride of the title and compared i to what our current world looks like with regard to character. “Under” a song for Melissa, was a highly syncopated tune which was followed by “Holiday Movie” . This song asks the question is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie or merely a movie set in December. That question continues to today.
Bill Kaffenberger
Bill recently rejoined VOCAL after a hiatus of few years. Once a local musician, he has since relocated to Los Angeles to be near family. Of course, with the magic of the internet, he was able to perform live and in person tonight. His first song, “A Clear Dsy For Peace” was, in fact, his first song written when he was 17. “In The Morning” a co-written song describes the angst of breaking up by “remembering the things we shared” which now cause heartache. A fine tribute song “Dad” came next, in which he honored his late father with lines like ” I miss you” and “I love you” were freely given. Songwriters sometimes cite who influenced them and molded their style: Bill is no exception. He greatly admired the Byrds and many of his songs have that 12 string Rickenbacher twang. While not playing it tonight. he did a song “Maybe By Then” which had that sort of Byrds sound. “Misty Around” described a broken romance and how hard it is to day goodbye to someone you loved. In the same vein: “She’s So Real” was a portrait of of someone the singer loves. Next in his set, was “Summer Day, Summer Sun” in which the songer remininsces about lost youth. “Watching The World Go Mad’ talks about ll the crazy things and all the disconnects that go on around us everyday. To close his performance, Bill ripped off a quicky song titled “And So It Goes” which was the closing line of a long time ago news show hosted by Linda Ellerby. Tonight’s showcase feattured two songwriters showing their versaitility and styles of songwriting, which of course, is what songwriting is all about.
