SAW Second Saturday Open Mic Night

SAW hosts a monthly open mic night in the Lab at Convergence. These are great opportunities to "get out there" and have your music heard in a live setting.

Seminars and Workshops
SAW sponsors workshops and seminars featuring guest songwriters, musicians, producers, and other music industry professionals. Recent presentors have included Pat Pattison, Bob Franke, Suede, and Mary Sue Twohy. SAW is a proud co-sponsor of Paul Reisler's annual Song Camp in the Country.

Open Mic Night

 Every month on the second Saturday in 
The Lab at Convergence
1819 N. Quaker Lane
Alexandria, VA

Sign-ups to play (first come-first served) begin at 7:00pm, with the music starting at 7:30pm. Each performer is allotted two songs, with originals encouraged. There will be an extra round of songs as time permits--we try to vacate the room by 11:00pm.

There is a snack bar available with snacks and drinks for $1. Donations of food or money are welcome. This is a family friendly venue, so alcohol is not permitted.
Take the Shirlington exit off of I-395 and follow the signs to Quaker Lane, then take the second left on Crestwood Drive. The Lab is the first building on the left, with the entrance facing Crestwood Drive.

Cary Whaley and Jim Johnson have volunteered to be the principal host/coordinators for this open mic series. Cary and Jim welcome additional coordinators to the team. If you are interested, please contact them.

If you have questions, or need additional information please contact Jim Johnson at 703-913-7408, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

SAW Songwriter Exchange will be on July 26, 2008 (10:00am-12:30pm)

The SAW Songwriter Exchange is an excellent opportunity to get input on your songs-in progress from an audience of friendly peers. The idea behind these workshops is for participants to bring a song-in-the-works to share with the group for constructive criticism. Songwriters can either play their songs live, or bring a recording to play on a boom box. You're encouraged to bring about 8-10 lyric sheets to distribute, too, which will be returned with comments in the margins, if you wish to present a song. Even if you get substantial co-writer-quality input on your song from the group, the copyright remains exclusively yours.

Each month a different guest artist hosts the first hour of the exchange. The guest can lead a discussion about the songwriting process, offer a lesson, or actually write a song on the spot. Guest artists usually play three or four songs during their portion of the Exchange, and then help critique your songs-in-progress.

Please come join us whether you have a song to share or not.

There is no fee, but we pass a tip jar around for the guest artist. For directions and more info call Paige Powell at (703) 671-4131.

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