Britt Neal, Galia Arad and Jodi Shaw
SGA Singer-Songwriter Showcase
Baggot Inn, New York City

Sometimes, you go to a venue to see a show and you feel lucky if you see one performer that moves you. Rarely are you fortunate enough to see a show where everyone is exceptional, but recently, at the Baggot Inn, the Songwriters Guild’s first singer-songwriter night was just that. Three great performances by three talented women. And the Songwriters Guild’s new Singer songwriters home, the Baggot Inn, provided the perfect atmosphere. Their new sound system is one of the best in NY, and the engineering was done expertly. It easily accommodated the standing-room crowd, though you could hear a pin drop throughout most of the evening. I assume it was just as much a treat for the performers as the audience, not to have to scream to be heard.

Britt Neal opened the show, and this southern belle was the perfect start. Her smooth, lilting vocals on tender material and gritty, gospel-like tones on harder hitting material showed off her vocal versatility to its best advantage. As an added treat, Britt brought on Regi Ransdell and Galia Arad to add some great vocals. Words can’t describe her stirring, soulful music. Just go to her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/brittnealmusic) and hear it for yourself. One listen to “Keep Moving On”, “Last Chance” or “I Dreamed Of You” will convince. Britt was at ease on stage, and moved effortlessly from song to song. Often, people are moving around and are a bit noisy as a show starts, but Britt had full control of her audience. A beautiful set.

Galia Arad was next up, and was as charming with her onstage banter as with her wiity songs. The stories made the songs come alive, and she delivered each song like they were precious, if precocious, children.

I was fortunate to be able to surprise her onstage by announcing to the audience (and to Galia at the same time) that she had just been chosen as the Songwriters Guild of America’s SHOF 2008 Abe Olman Scholarship winner for Excellence in Songwriting. Galia will be featured on the Songwriters Hall of Fame New Writers Showcase CD, as well as winning a $1,200.00 scholarship prize at a ceremony to be held by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in mid-June.

Immediately captivating the audience with a newer song, Better Than Bonnie, Galia then told and sang of a long distance relationship gone bad, her dog Lulu (also now a long distance relationship), Wally (another canine). Presumably, the other songs were also about boys, men and animals. Galia performed tracks from her first CD and upcoming CD, now being produced by Tommy Faragher. She asked Britt to come back up to help out on keys and vocals on a couple of songs and it was easy to see the camaraderie between the two. Check out Galia’s MySpace page at www.MySpace.com/songsfromthedogpound.

Jodi Shaw closed the show with an outstanding set. Her vocals continue to mature, and it is a wonder that no label has snapped her up yet. She has already released three excellent albums (for more info, please go to her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/jodishaw), and in addition to her showcasing some of those gems, Jodi also gave us a “sneak peek” as a few new songs she is readying for her next album. We were treated to a great live version of “Out of Love”, “The Forger”, “ Waterland”, “In Cabrini Green” “Starling”, and others, including two outstanding, well-chosen covers, Stephin Merritt/Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love” and Bob Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Miss Me”. Shaw was at ease, whether on keyboards or guitar, and the texture of both against a tapestry of stories and emotions provided the audience with a lot to take home.

However, the evening wasn’t quite over. Helping to support the Songwriters Guild was a treasured audience guest, Miss Roberta Flack. Miss Flack was gracious to join us onstage, and, though she had a cold, spoke about the Guild and our own Ann Ruckert, and what they do for all songwriters. She then introduced her godson, Davell Crawford, who came up and blew the audience away with one of his songs. It was a perfect way to end a perfect evening. My thanks to Ed, Tom, Bobby, Dave and all at the Baggot for making us feel welcome.