The second most anticipated weekend on my calendar is Singer Songwriter Weekend, March 28th and 29th. Music will once again fill the air throughout Cape May as singer-songwriters unite for the return of the Singer-Songwriter Weekend (SS Cape May) in 2025. Hosted by the historic Congress Hall in Cape May, this exciting weekend event is designed for singer-songwriters of all genres and those interested in the music industry.
The inaugural conference and showcase was held in 2008 and ran through 2019. The 2020 event was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, gathering restrictions, and discontinued in 2022.
At its height, SS Cape May hosted over 250 acts and artists, performing at 16
Reignited weekend
The weekend will feature two afternoons of music business panels, workshops, clinics, mentoring/demo listening sessions, and musical keynote speakers. The focus will be on emerging and established talent, networking, and learning from music industry professionals and regional talent.
In other words, the weekend is a workshop for emerging talent with the side benefit of outstanding music that locals and visitors can enjoy at no cost. Artists will have a chance to share their original music during evening performances at select venues around town.
In 1999, four commercial clam boats from the area sank in a short time—over four days. Michael Troy and I may not have met in Cape May if the sea had not swallowed the Beth Dee Bob. Four powerful lines from one song, used in the preface of Douglas Campbell’s book, The Sea’s Bitter Harvest, introduced me to Michael. Michael Troy recorded a song titled Four Boats Down, a powerful, Edmund Fitzgerald-ish tale. Michael was one of many visitors to Cape May in the early years of SS Cape May.
“Michael may well be the best songwriter I ever heard,” said Russ Smith, who runs the Paskamansett Concert Series in Dartmouth, New Hampshire and formerly booked music at Sandywoods Music in Tiverton.
“He was a poet,” Smith said. “He could convey emotions and tell beautiful stories, but he knows when a song is finished. He knows what to leave out.”
Like many of our Cape May singer-songwriters, carpenters, teachers and realtors, Michael Troy was a mill worker and a commercial fisherman. He worked hard all his life and raised four daughters who play music.
Had Michael been born earlier, he may have been a Bard by Irish standards. He was often described more like Arlo Guthrie than Bob Dylan. When he played in Cape May, I would resist the urge to yell, “Shut up and listen.” (In noisy venues) Michael would explain that singer-songwriter conferences were more about networking than performing. Still I got frustrated.
Singer Songwriter Etiquette
On the website of the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee, under frequently asked questions, you will find the definition of a Shhhh policy. The answer to the question: “Too much conversation distracts listeners and is disrespectful to the songwriters who form the backbone of our music community. We encourage talking before, between sets, and after the show, but ask that during the performances, to keep talking as low as possible.”
The Blue Bird Cafe describes itself as “one of the world’s preeminent listening rooms and a venue that has gained worldwide recognition as a songwriter’s performance space where the “heroes behind the hits” perform their songs; songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres of music.”
If the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville can politely ask (I’ll bet tell) people to be quiet, Cape May can show the same love. It may take a collective effort from venue owners, managers, and bartenders to make it happen.
“Singer songwriter weekend is like bird-watching,” Carl Behrens said. “Sometimes you go traipsing through the woods looking for birds and find good ones, other times you stake out a spot and wait for the birds to come to you.” Carl is an event organizer along with his brother-in-law, John Harris, who founded the weekend. Carl was referring to the 1st world struggle of trying to hear as much good music as possible. With so many venues and performers spread around Cape May, it can be challenging to choose where to “sit and listen.”
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