Songwriter Night

The Galley has a strong affiliation and wholeheartedly supports both Songwriter Night and The Colony Theatre Restoration Project. 

The musical connection between these three entities is strong and the mission is pure: Continually raise the cultural bar of the Mid Ohio Valley and the awareness thereof through both promoting live performance arts and providing the venues for the artists to practice their craft while entertaining and enlightening the audience.

Songwriter Night accesses the talent, with its reach covering the quad-state region (Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky) – to include a special relationship with Mountain Stage (with access to national/world renowned artistry).  The Galley provides the more intimate venue for performances as well as the restaurant, bar, banquet, and special event services.  Once the Colony renovation is complete, it, then, will provide the larger scale venue for the certain events.

As you can sense, Historic Marietta’s already vibrant and hip-yet-traditional cultural scene continues to expand with the help of this trio.  Read on for more info on Songwriter Night and The Colony Theatre…

What is “Songwriter Night
with Todd Burge”?

Songwriter Night with Todd Burge has been producing live performance events in and around the region for the better part of a decade now.  What started as an open stage for songwriters at the Crow Bar in Marietta, Ohio, back in 2003, has since grown into the area’s only locally produced live radio program for performing songwriters!

The radio program, which initially aired Classic Rock Z106 in the Mid-Ohio Valley, can now be heard on WWVU-92 FM in Morgantown, WV, as well as various other college radio stations, and worldwide on the www.songwriternight.com pod cast. We have also recorded a few specials for WV Public Radio heard all over West Virginia and parts of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia.

Songwriter Night with Todd Burge records most of its live shows at The Galley (on the Captain's Deck) in their fine banquet room, which seats 80 people.  The space is perfect for the intimate setting Songwriter Night strives for.  Thanks to The Galley’s generous sponsorship, Songwriter Night is able to travel all over the region, produce shows and create listening venues for hundreds of songwriters!    The show has also recorded at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV; The Blennerhasset Hotel in Parkersburg, WV; Shepherdstown University in Shepherdstown, WV; The Club Café in Pittsburgh, PA; Donkey Coffee in Athens, Ohio; Tamarack Theatre in Beckley, WV; the MOVP Theatre in Marietta, Ohio; The Union Hall Theatre in Chesterhill, Ohio; The Alpine Theatre in Ripley, WV; and the Mountain Lakes Amphitheatre in Sutton, WV.

In addition to live radio show tapings, Songwriter Night with Todd Burge also produces many "Songwriter Invitationals" and Songwriter Workshops throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley. Hundreds of songwriters get the opportunity to showcase their original songs in front of an appreciative audience as a result of these "invitationals".   Some of these events have served as fundraisers for organizations like the Colony Theatre Restoration Project in Marietta Ohio.  Burge has said, "This is a great way to find new talent in the region.  Many of them end up playing the radio shows too!"

Songwriter Night served as host for the Mountain Stage New Song Contest’s Mid-Ohio Valley Regional at the Blennerhassett Hotel in July of 2007. This regional was one of only seven in the world. The international contest had over 2000 competing songwriters in 2007.

We have had some fantastic nationally known talent who have performed our program including Don Dixon (who has worked with many stars including Mary Chapin Carpenter, REM and Joe Cocker) Larry Groce [shown at right] (Hit songwriter, Grammy Nominee and host of PBS’s Mountain Stage) and Tim O’Brien (2006 Grammy Winner) and more, but our main focus is on creating performance opportunities for songwriters in our region, like: John Radcliff, Josh Buskirk, Joseph Hale, Amanda Sams, Vic Fitzsimmons, Bruce Dalzell, JD Hutchison, Jim Savarino, Billy Matheny, John Walsh, Patrick Sweany, RJ Cowdery, Blackwater Mojo, The Weedhawks, John Lilly, Ron Sowell, Roger Rabalias, Dick Patton, and many, many more

We share a vision with The Galley, the Colony Theatre Restoration Project, The WV Music Hall of Fame, Mountain Stage and many other fine organizations who support the arts in our region.  Simply put, we strive to raise the esteem of the Mid-Ohio Valley by supporting and nurturing performing songwriters and together we are working towards making our region known as “Songwriter Central”!