August 2026 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase

The August 2026 VOCAL showcase featured the winners of the annual Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year awards. There was a three-way tie for Song of the Year among Glen King, Mark Daniel and Ken Roller. There was a two-way tie for Song of the Year between Mark Daniel and Burke Ingraffia. Steve Nuckolls, a past award winner, also performed. While Glen King wasn’t able to perform this evening his music can be heard here: https://legacy.reverbnation.com/glenking/song/35217365-im-not-getting-over-you He also has several videos at https://www.youtube.com/@glenking/videos

Burke Ingraffia
Burke kicked off the evening with several of his smooth and cleverly-crafted numbers reflecting numerous walks of life, including his recent fatherhood. Dusty Old Clock, delivered on electric guitar and accompanied by harmonica, tells us the story of an old clock he has around the house that doesn’t work (but is correct twice a day…). He compares the clock to his own life and how he’s been stuck in a moment of time, worried that if he doesn’t take his time that time will take him! He then delivered his Song of the Year winner Small Things With Great Love, sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy for him as he wrote this prior to becoming a father. It’s the story of a man with big plans, building big towers, but through the years he realizes all the big stuff is done, so now it’s time to focus on the small but most important things. It’s a faith-based tune that features Mother Teresa’s words as the title. Checks and Balances is a jazzy number with some really awesome rhyming and play on words going on. His fat wallet is on a diet and his balance sheet is lopsided, so he needs those checks and balances because his finances are a mess! Waves is a signature tune of Burke’s and is the title track of his CD, describing the ebb and flow of life’s adventures. Lines such as “live like it’s your first day” and “love like it’s your last” are quite appropriate and will keep you engaged. Congrats, Burke!

Mark Daniel
Mark then treated us to some of his awesome homespun tunes. He and his writing partners are called the Chickahominy Boys (Mark, Gray Oliver and Tom Vermeern). White Plastic Fences, which won the Song of the Year award, was originally written about the scourge of solar collectors but was then re-written to reflect the urban sprawl into the unspoiled country. White plastic fences surround the houses in the newly-sprouted neighborhoods where there are rules about what you can and can’t do. One of the trio’s newest tunes is Autumn Leaves, a touching song about missing the one you love. It’s received radio airplay all around the world! My Love is the Real Thing tells the tale of him showing up unannounced to his girlfriend’s house with take-out Lo Mein but she’s not even there and won’t answer his calls. He was greeted by a big snake up in a tree who seemed to be looking out for her and advised to come back the next day! He then treated us to a true story from 1901 in Sevierville, TN with a song he co-wrote with Tom. Jasper Mellinger was a blacksmith from Tennessee who was headed to North Carolina to find work. He was trekking through the woods when he got caught in a black bear trap. He ended up dying on the mountain but his body wasn’t found until a couple of years later. Awesome scary but true tune, guys! Mark left us with If Only You Were Free, a jazzy number lamenting the fact that his “person of interest” was in a relationship, but he’s still looking for ways to tell her how he feels about her. Way to go, Mark!

Steve Nuckolls
Steve took the stage with a handful of his mostly new tunes. What if She Likes It was co-written with a friend of his and recounts the night he brazenly met his future wife while she was on a date. She Remembered My Beer is the tale of a patron at a bar who is trying to gain the attention of the waitress perhaps for more than just another beer. She doesn’t know his name yet but does remember his favorite beer. My Go-to Song is a new song reflecting on those memorable moments when just the perfect song came on the radio as if it were sent for that occasion. Living in a Snow Globe is a new song depicting a fantasy world living inside a snow globe where lovers are skating on the frozen lake just about to feel the shake! Steve finished with Pedal Steel, a true story about purchasing his first bicycle when he was a kid and the freedom it gave him as he pedaled it all through the countryside.

Ken Roller
Ken Roller, who also shared the award for Songwriter of the Year, then took the stage with several of his finely-crafted and grounded songs mostly about family. Great Grandad to Me was a very sentimental tribute to his late grandfather who lived to be 104 years old. He extolls the virtues of his Grandad and aspires to be half the man he was. Fly Away With You was another sentimental tune written for his younger brother who took his own life. Much love, memories and tears went into the writing and performance of this song! Keeping with the family theme he then delivered a fitting song, Two Youth in Love, about his parents and all the life, love, travel and family events that have accompanied them through the years. I’m Forgiven followed with a darker, minor key persona as he unravels the tale of too many nights of too much drinking, fortunately being forgiven the next morning. A man takes a drink and the drink takes the man! Ken finished up the evening with Can’t Find the Sunshine for the Rain, a Tom Petty-ish feeling number painting the picture of a guy who is always seeking the sunshine but ends up under a gray sky, another day ending the same. Great job, Ken!

Congrats to Mark, Glen, Burke and Ken!!