No covers allowed: Songwriters share passion for original music at Pineville brewery

You won’t hear cover songs from any of the songwriters who are part of the CenLa Songwriters Circle. All music is original, each written by the songwriters who gather at Fighting Hand Brewing Company, 1600 Military Highway in Pineville from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month.

“My real passion is original music. I can listen to original music all night long,” said singer songwriter Tommy Ike Hailey of LaSalle Parish. He founded the circle along with Guy Pucheu of Ville Platte last April.

“It’s open to songwriters of all levels. They do have to play original music. They can’t play covers – Guy,” said Hailey, eyeing Pucheu.

“I found that out. Shut me down,” Pucheu said.

Hailey met Pucheu in 2021 at Chicot State Park when they were attending the Louisiana Tradition Bearers Award ceremony for musician Steve Judice. Pucheu just happened to see Hailey carrying a guitar and asked if he wanted to play some music. But Pucheu played cover songs while Hailey and others played originals.

But after meeting Hailey and some other songwriters, Pucheu eventually started writing his own songs.

“He’s got a whole ton of them and he writes, about three or four a week,” said Rick Adams of Alexandria, another regular in the group.

Adams is also a Louisiana Tradition Bearers Award recipient. He received the award in 2020, and Mary Alice Vanderwaters of Pineville, another regular, received the award in 2022.

The songwriters’ circle is not necessarily a performance, Hailey said. It provides an opportunity for songwriters to get together, socialize, share songs and get feedback.

“A lot of times with songwriters, you have performances when you go out there, plug in, amplify and you’re playing for an audience. But there aren’t many opportunities like this to meet and socialize with other songwriters,” Hailey said.

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But that doesn’t mean others are not welcome to come out. Some people drop by just to listen while they drink some of the local brews made by Fighting Hand owners Chris and Tiffany Lindsey.

John Jordan of Ball, Gene Barton of Alexandria, Denise Lott and George Hollinshead of Evergreen are the other regulars.

Each of them takes a turn playing a song, then talk about what the inspiration for the song, said Hailey. Then the next person may play a song related to that theme or play whatever they want to play.

“Basically, it’s an opportunity for us to share original music in a very non-judgmental, no pressure setting,” said Hailey.

“We can mess up and nobody holds it against us,” said Jordan, who likes the comradery with the other songwriters.

Hailey goes first. He sings a song he wrote about his wife Debra Jo called “Fallin’ In Love.” They started dating when she was 16. She sits at a table nearby as they play. She doesn’t write songs but enjoys the music, said Hailey.

Vanderwaters sings “Lucille’s Alone,” a song she wrote about the death of legendary B.B. King blues musician and his guitar that he named Lucille.

Jordan sings a song he wrote called “Make It Thru the Night” about a couple who evacuated to a shelter after a hurricane.

“We help each other with our songs,” said Adams. “Sometimes we’ll play pieces of a song that we haven’t finished yet and we’ll get some input from the other songwriters so we collaborate that way. That makes it fun. So we don’t just play the ones we have polished that we played for years. We will even try out some that — this may be the only time they ever get played, 'That one needs to go back to the workshop.’”

Before moving to LaSalle Parish, Hailey was living in Ponchatoula where he was running in the North Shore songwriters’ circle. Then he helped other musicians create circles in Abita Springs and the South Shore and then got tied in with the Baton Rouge songwriters.

He already knew Adams before he moved to LaSalle Parish and it was Adams who told him of a “cool place,” Fighting Hand Brewing Company, where they could start a songwriters’ circle. So Hailey and Pucheu checked it out and liked it. Then Hailey spoke to the Lindseys and they agreed to let them meet there on Wednesday evenings.

Hailey is also involved with festivals such as the Third Street Songwriters Festival in Baton Rouge, Songs on the Bayou in Morgan City, Ozone Songwriters’ Festival in Mandeville, Overbrook Songwriters’ Festival in Brookhaven, Miss., and the Mississippi Songwriters’ Festival in Brookhaven.

Hailey and one of his friends from Houma got a grant this year to teach songwriter workshops, to build a songwriters’ circle there and have songwriters’ showcases. That will lead to a songwriters’ festival set for next fall in Houma, he said. In the future, Hailey said he would love to see a songwriters’ festival in Central Louisiana.

To connect, check out the Facebook pages for CenLa Songwriters Circle and Fighting Hand Brewing Company.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Songwriters share passion for original music at Pineville brewery