The Grand resident James Hersch will be playing a free concert for residents at Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church in The Grand.

It is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21 with doors opening at 6 p.m.

Tickets are required even though the event is free.

In 1984, Hersch made a commitment to write and perform his own songs.

“Following a road paved by Harry Chapin, John Denver, Michael Johnson and others, I found my home in the college coffeehouse circuit, where I spent many weeks at a time on tour. 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,” he said.

Honors have since followed Hersch as a stage performer (club and coffeehouse), film score composer (PBS Television) and in his work providing music for shelters, prisons, Hospice and Head Start programs.

Hersch would ultimately be enshrined in the College Coffeehouse Hall of Fame and go on to win the Telly and Harry Chapin Awards.

When he and his wife Candy moved from Minnesota to become Grand residents, Hersch immediately established the Songwriters of Grand, a subgroup of the Music Club. Hersch recognized the Grand Music Club’s “... impressive collection of talented members and styles,” as he puts it. And he saw an opportunity to add another genre, using his experiences as a singer/songwriter.

“In particular,” he says, “I wanted to replicate the magic of songwriter clubs such as The Bluebird Cafe (Nashville). It was in these clubs that I shared the spotlight with, and was inspired by, Steve Goodman, John Prine, Vince Gill and Garth Brooks. In these spaces, songwriters find the courage to sing their songs and share their stories.”

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