This mainly original program is themed around love of this strange and beautiful place and the personal journeys that brought us here.”

James Hersch | Singer-songwriter

IF YOU GO

What: Songwriters Showcase: “A Mixtape for You”

When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26

Where: Sagebrush Ballroom at Sonoran Plaza 19753 N. Remington Drive

Tickets: $20

Information: grandmusicclub.com

The Grand Music Club is presenting James Hersch and the second annual Songwriters Showcase.

Tickets are on sale for $20 for “A Mixtape for You” from the songwriters of Grand.

Shows start at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26 at the Sagebrush Ballroom of Sonoran Plaza, 19753 N. Remington Drive.

Hersch established the songwriter group at Grand in 2023 after stumbling onto a gathering of the Acoustic Instruments Group in 2022.

“A smiling Don Bollard noticed me lingering just outside and invited me to bring my guitar and join in,” Hersch said. “Everyone had a welcoming smile. I quickly became friends with several musicians actively sharing their music here.”

Hersch made his Grand debut at the November 2023 Live At Cimarron venue. He then proceeded to a wider audience of music lovers with his two-night main stage show: “The Songwriters of Grand, Oh, The Stories They Can Tell.”

In creating the Songwriters Club, and in the casting for the show, Hersch said he has found others “who share a fondness for — and the courage for — expressing themselves, and their stories, in words and music.”

“This mainly original program is themed around love of this strange and beautiful place and the personal journeys that brought us here,” Hersch said.

Joining Hersch onstage will be 10 other Grand songwriters and several supporting musicians. Harvey Finstein, a Grand “A-List” talent, will add his piano playing and clarinet.

Finstein’s impressive career as a performing and teaching professional makes him an invaluable gift to Music Club shows. He and Hersch will accompany our Grand songwriters as well as offer several songs of their own.

Writing songs and singing for people has been Hersch’s full-time vocation and occupation since he finished school.

“Though I studied classical guitar, I quickly decided that writing and performing as a solo singer/songwriter was where my heart was,” Hersch said.

Hersch, who would ultimately go on to win the prestigious Telly and Harry Chapin awards, made a commitment to write and perform his own songs beginning in 1984.

“Following a road paved by Harry Chapin, John Denver, Michael Johnson and others, I found a home on the college coffeehouse circuit, where I spent many weeks at a time on tour,” Hersch said. ”I would drive throughout the U.S. to college coffeehouses, performing and selling my records, spending time on campus with students and polishing my guitar playing. Telling my stories and singing my own songs became a living for me.”

Hersch has now created such a space for Grand Music Club members to “find the courage to sing their songs and share their stories.”