July 2025 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase

July’s musical performers were new member David Orcutt, and veteran VOCAL member, Bill Kaffenberger.  

David Orcutt
David was first up. He is a relatively new member of VOCAL.  His style of playing was consistent strumming  throughout his songs.  He began his set with “The Fix You’re In” a song which posited the premise regardless of circumstances “you’ve got to believe in something”.   “Prize”   was a paean to love,  in which the singer promised “I’ll never stop loving you”.  Next song was “Friends Are to Find”  and this was followed by “Friday Night Blues”  which was an uptempo blues jam that capped his short set.  

Bill Kaffenberger
Bill is a long time VOCAL member who has been  living in L.A. for  a couple of years, but has returned to Richmond to settle down.  One of the  highlights of the evening is Bill’s grasp of lyrics.  He has a great ear for words. “Little Old Man” told the tale of a homeless man living on the streets of D.C. and unfortunately froze to death.  “What Am I Doing Sitting Here On My Hands” questions choices we make in life and one needs to find one’s place in the world.  “Girl Down On The Lane”  who, through her ghost, remembers the fair and the images that were created by it. Next in the set was “Lonesome Rider”   which has the singer roaming about, trying to find a  place to belong “don’t let your life slip away” he cautions.  “She’s So Real”  is a fatal attraction song where the singer goes for  a smile a million miles wide. Bill takes on the 60’s in “Little Boy Blue” a song filled with oblique references to characters who populated the 1960’s, perhaps suggesting Kennedy’s assassination  was an inside job.   Going back to his youthful days, “Lubber Run”  depicted  carefree days when there was time to spend fancy free following streams  and walking along the railroad tracks  waving to the train engineer as it roared by.  Next in his set was “Sun Is Going Down” otherwise known as the Sink Hole song which is where it ended.  “Maybe By Then”  relates to the loss of a casual affair ruing “she wasn’t meant for me”.   Imagining  the hypothetical is  something  many of us do, and In “If I Ask You To Dance” would be one. The singer sees a lovely lady across the room and imagines just that.  “Magical Days”  incorporates the memories of youth remembering “the world we grew up in a long, long time go.” Final song in Bill’s set was a tribute to “Someone Greater Than You Or I” which wonders at the creations of Jesus like rainbows, mountains and the cry of a new born baby.  

Showcase Photos

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Photo Credits: Matthew Costello, John Ellis, Norman Roscher