Skip to main content

Past Event

Department of Music & Theatre Arts Productions

Songwriters By The Sea

Distinguished NJ Songwriters Joe Rapolla and Joe D’Urso are back this year hosting the celebrated Songwriters by the Sea series at the Lauren K. Woods Theatre. What once started in a small coffee shop as an area for local songwriters has now grown into a series that features some of the top songwriters in the country. This year, the show features special guests Willie Nile and Emily Grove as well as an opening set with  Monmouth students Max & Jenaé and Madeline Knight along with George Wurzbach. A pre-show reception will be held at 7 pm for all ticket holders.

About Songwriters by the Sea:

Songwriters by the Sea began as intimate, casual coffeehouse jam sessions around Asbury Park, and has since evolved into a national show attracting some of the most revered singers and songwriters of today’s scene— from David Johansen and Garland Jeffreys to Glen Burtnik, Rhett Miller, Marshall Crenshaw and Alison Moorer. Along the way, D’Urso (front man of Stone Caravan and board member of WHY Hunger and Light Of Day) and Rapolla (a veteran music industry executive, solo performer, and front man of the band Perfect Square) have fine-tuned their circle of artists, trading favorite songs and illuminating backstories behind their most personal works, into a vehicle that brings out the best in the assembled talent. Whether the venue is a club, a historic theater or a campus performing arts center, Songwriters by the Sea has been known to turn any space into an intimate house party atmosphere; a gathering of friends and a place where something akin to magic often takes hold.

All net proceeds will support Monmouth University’s Endowed Music Industry Scholarships.
Photo by John Posada