June 2025 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase

On a warm pre-summer's night, three dedicated songwriters got together to present an evening full of music and camaraderie. The venue was O'Toole's pub. Matt Manion, Matthew Costello and Mark Daniel were the musicians, and this is what they presented.

Matt Manion
First performer was Matt Manion, who's a long time VOCAL member. He began his set with a take off of a Chuck Berry song titled "If Rock and Roll Had a Name" which was an apt tribute to the innovator whose style and creative efforts were so imitated by other bands. Next: "Sit By and Stand By" recited the travails of a airline passenger waiting around for his plane to be called. . Next song was "I Ain't Old" was a plea to the listener that he's not old, just a little bit worn and bruised from life an still young at heart. This was followed by "Now I Know" a sad tribute to a friend lost to suicide. Two tribute songs followed in memory of Brian Wilson ("Surfer Girl") and Sly Stone ("Everyday People") in which the audience was invited to sing along. "Don't Stand By Me" was a song in which the singer fears for his life when performing on stage, as one of his band mates has been cheating and he thinks there may be retaliation Lastly: in "Playing On My Dobro" the singer bemoans his hectic working schedule and finds relief in playing music for some comfort and consolation.

Matthew Costello
Matthew, VOCAL president, presents densely populated songs with characters and events. "3 Days In 69" presents retrospective of events that happened in that year, Woodstock, for example. "The Artist That Hung The Moon" (John Atkinson Grimshaw) paints a picture (no pun) of the detailed brushwork and imagery that this artist was able to create capturing the stillness of night, deserted streets and moonlight. First crush is a subject many of us may remember when we were in our younger years and this is the subject in "What Is Happening" The thoughts that go through one's mind when confronted with the object of one's affection is what constitutes the essence of this song. "Does she like me when she smiles at me?" "I want to hear her whispering my name" are a couple of them. In "The Shadows of September" Matthew is reminiscing about the eerie atmosphere created by the looming change of season in the songs of that whisper in the night which in fact may linger till November. Another singalong song was the classic "Digging For Elvis" tune that harkens back to a standard in Matthew's repertoire. The singer desperately tries to regenerate the King with myriad searches and drives around with a clone sticking up through the car roof that gets confiscated by the police. The chorus line "digging, digging, digging" is an invitation to singalong. Finally: "Walking Willie" is a depiction of a character who perambulates through the singer's hometown, who eventually passes on but whose ghostly figure populates the fog and causes the singer to wonder if Willie still has got some place to go.

Mark Daniel
Mark is a returning VOCAL member after a few years sabbatical. His set was propelled by a lot of upbeat songs and energetic guitar playing. "White Picket Fence" is a tale of an abandoned farm with pictures of rust, decay and brokenness. "Church That Use To Be" this time a broken down church with elements inside like a rusted piano with strings hanging down, bring back memories of what used to occur there,, the choir singing, weddings, the hymns that were sung. Next was "All I Need" and then "Heroes Across The Oceans Of My Mind" was a tribute to those who have served in the military and were not afraid to face danger or go into battle. "Cherokee Road" included tales of travail along the "Trail Of Tears" when native Americans were forced to leave their home reservation by the army for relocation far away. "The Devil's Water" is a euphemism for alcohol and this song reminded us what effects it can have on the user. Can opposites attract? Could be,. In "That's What I Am" the question is debated between the singer and a possible love interest. "Franklin" is a town south of Nashville that was a stop in the Civil War for respite and recuperation. In "The Church That Used To Be", church sign hung down and needed repair, sinners needed saving and people tried to get along. But, in it's time, it served it's purpose. "I thought you had a heart of gold" but you told me you had a "Heart Of Stone" and so that was the dilemma facing Mark in this song about different conceptions of who people are and how they act. Unfortunately: stone won out. Last song in the set was about "The World's Richest Man" though it wasn't about money that made him rich. It's the things in our lives that we don't stop to appreciate that provide richness. Views of mountains, rivers, eagles soaring high above, seeing storms rage across deserts and the smell from the ocean's breeze, these are some of the things that make us rich.