By Bob Chalker

This Saturday’s weather was incredible, was it not? Maybe the best driving day of the year. So, reminiscence of our high school years, we played hooky from the Club’s monthly meeting and put the car to use doing what it was designed to do – a country drive. But this time it was a drive with a purpose.  We went over to Moravia Texas to attend the Songwriter Serenade.

The Texas Songwriter Serenade is an annual competition, held the first Saturday in May, with singer songwriters from across the country competing for the top prize. It is held in Parish Hall, a very Texas style dance hall. The judges are all renown songwriters in their own right and the performers were outstanding. They weren’t just local talent, but were 15 of our country’s best, selected from over 170 entries. This year’s contestants were from Colorado, Ohio, Nashville, New York, Georgia, Boston, Utah, California as well as Texas.

The music was simply the songwriter and his or her guitar. No background musicians, no fancy electronics, just a person standing on the stage putting their talent on display in the rawest form. The lyrics covered topics ranging from love found to love lost, fast cars and old trucks, small towns and big cities, our country’s history to concerns of what the future holds and the Lord’s forgiveness and our salvation.

It was an afternoon of pure entertainment and the ticket price was just $15.00. They had food and beer for sale at the venue and the people couldn’t have been more friendly. Moravia is a short hour and 15 minute drive from Katy via I-10. If you want a little more enjoyable drive you can get there on country roads in under 2 hours. I see next May’s Club meeting possibly being a field trip.

To learn more about the Texas Songwriter Serenade click here.