What is Songkeepers at Schreiner?
This program — and all of the Songkeeper activities — will be designed to provide a safe and nurturing environment for students to have the courage to hone the skills to write and perform their first songs. According to coordinator and professional singer-songwriter Mr. Bill Muse: “I can tell you that we are bringing some of the finest professional songwriters from several genres of music to work one-on-one as well as in group sessions with Songkeepers students, and these students will be helping produce concerts by these artists. You won’t find an opportunity like this on any other college campus.”
One of the unique and interesting things that will happen with the students in the Songkeepers program is professional songwriters will help them master their craft. To that end, each student will prepare an original song for submission to the Kerrville Folk Festival’s University Students Songwriter’s Competition at the end of their first year. Local professionals will work with students throughout the year on these songs, invite other professional singer-songwriters to consult with the students on their work, provide performance opportunities for these students to showcase their work, and have their songs professionally recorded in Schreiner’s state-of-the-art music studio.
What is Songkeepers at Schreiner?
The goal is not to identify America’s next famous singer-songwriters (though it might just happen); instead, the goal is to identify those people who are passionate about their music (all academic majors welcome!) and want to be more than a hobbyist. They want to be a student of the genre, and they want to achieve an excellence in their tradition that can only occur through concentrated practice in the company of someone like Mr. Bill Muse who himself is a veteran singer-songwriter.
**Please visit our Music and Conversation series. This program is included in the curriculum of several of Schreiner’s undergraduate classes. Learn more and enjoy previous sessions today.
August |
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Week 1: Aug 8-13The Flyin’ A’sThe husband-and- wife duo of Hilary Claire and Stuart Adamson—better |
Week 2: Aug 15-20Bernice Lewisfestivals, concert halls, coffeehouses, colleges, and house concerts, along with a half dozen acclaimed CDs, Bernice Lewis has built a solid national fan base. She is also a published poet, a producer, and an educator extraordinaire. Lewis — who studied vocal improvisation with Bobby McFerrin, guitar technique with Alex DeGrassi and Guy van Duser, and songwriting with Rosanne Cash and Cris Williamson — has been a featured performer on NPR’s Mountain Stage program, as well as at the Kennedy Center. In 2008, she was awarded an Artist in Residence position by the National Park Service. In 1987, she was a finalist in the prestigious New Folk Songwriting Contest at the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival, where she continues to be a main stage favorite. Her ballad, “Bridges That Hold,” was included in Peter, Paul and Mary’s Lifelines video (PBS). She was featured in Yoga Journal for her work with sound and yoga, and has shared the stage with many renowned artists, including Dar Williams, Dixie Chicks, Patty Griffin, Pete Seeger, Ellis Paul, Rory Block, Livingston Taylor, Odetta, Christine Lavin, Marty Sexton, Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis, Mary Gauthier… it’s a long list. She has a forty-year old daily yoga practice, loves good coffee, and her religion is the Grand Canyon. |
Week 3: Aug 23-27Matt NakoaMatt Nakoa is an award-winning songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. |
Week 4A: Aug 29-31Terri Hendrix & LloydTerri Hendrix is a pioneering independent Texas songwriter who spins |
September |
Week 4B: Sept-2-3Beth Galiger & Bill WardA veteran of the singer/songwriter circuit since 1990, Bill has forged |
Week 5: Sept 9-12Ken Gainesguitarist, producer, and teacher Ken Gaines has the goal of writing great songs in just about every genre and style you can come up with. “For all the great songs that have been written I belong to a wonderful tribe who believe there are a least as many great ones still to be written.” His voice has the range to cover all styles and his supple guitar work lays down arrangements instead of just chords. His lyrics are both powerful and poetic and highlight the skills of a story teller and observer of life. |
Week 6: Sept 12-17Doug WintchWintch has been actively making up songs since he was a small boy. (He’s quick to admit that he’s forgotten most of those early songs, even though they were all very short! Also, Doug has always been uncomfortable writing in this strange “bio” voice, but such is life for the nearly 64 year old songster.) Doug’s debut CD—Wooden Nickels, was recorded in Salt Lake City in 1993—Amazingly, he still remembers how to play many of those twelve songs! Checkin’ In, followed in 1996—recorded in Kingsland, Texas. Beloved Hill Country picker and recording engineer, Larry Nye producing. The late great Champ Hood is featured on a couple of cuts. 2010 saw him recording Singing on the Job—in Tacoma, Washington. Production, engineering and backing vocals by the mucho-talented Evan Brubaker. (Older Kerrverts will remember Evan from The Bigsbys.) Over the past forty some odd years, Doug figures he’s fronted at least thirty-seven folk’n’roll combos—and played thousands of solo, duo, and band gigs from Salt Lake to Seattle—Grand Targhee to Terlingua. Whatever the context—Doug’s songs will touch your heart and tickle your funny bone. He’s been called a Utah treasure—(among other things!) It’s been said his sound comes from a place where the Wasatch mountains meet the Rio Grande—(and he considers the sentiment high praise.) |
Week 7A: Sept 19-21Michael Bowers & Siobahn Quinnis originally from Berkeley, CA, & upstate New York, and was born of immigrant parents. With a voice of powerful texture and variety, some refer to her as a “pyrotechnic folk & blues singer.” She can rip into exuberant blues, bring tears to your eyes with a soulful ballad, or bring an audience to complete stillness with a centuries old folk song. Siobhan’s English and Irish family experience comes out in her songwriting; along with that occasional twist into the blues she loves so much. When he witnessed history in the making as a young boy in Selma, Alabama, Michael Bowers realized that his most prized possessions were not in boxes or on paper, but in his mind and his voice. He’s known for his strong, sophisticated lyrics as well as cut-to-the-chase songs. The lessons of his storied southern roots sometimes surface in live performance and his lyrics range from the heartfelt to humorous. To add even more spice to his vocals and guitar, Michael often uses a Paul Beard resonator & Veillette Gryphon guitar to create a certain texture to various songs. |
Week 7B: Sept 23-26Steve FisherSteve Fisher’s songs reveal a deep resonance of spirituality and soul-searching, |
Week 8: Sept 26-28Bernice LewisWith almost four decades of performing festivals, concert halls, coffeehouses, |
The shows will be mostly every other Sunday afternoon, from 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Schreiner Songkeeper Bill Muse, a veteran singer/songwriter in his own right, will host the series, featuring a different guest artist for each show. Muse has taken advantage of his long association with touring performing songwriters from across the country to put together an impressive lineup, including:
- Shake Russell (Houston) – June 13
- Johnny Chops (Austin) – June 27
- Dana Cooper (Nashville) – July 11
- Warren Hood (Austin) – July 25
- The Flyin A’s (Austin) – August 8
- Bernice Lewis (western Mass) – August 15
- Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines (Texas Hill Country) – August 29
- Doug Wintch (Salt Lake City) and Ken Gaines (Houston) – September 12
- Michael Bowers and Siobhan Quinn (Austin) – September 19
- Steve Fisher (northeast Texas and Oklahoma) and Bernice Lewis (western Mass) – September 26
- Michael McNevin (SF Bay area, California) – October 10
- Buddy Mondlock (Nashville) – October 24
The series will demonstrate the ethos of the Schreiner Songkeeper program, that is the preservation and support of the indigenous art form of the Texas Hill Country – songwriting. While many of the feature artists have written songs that have become chart toppers for major recording stars, the lineup is filled with poets of the first order, and this venue and this format will create a unique opportunity to hear the songs the way they were originally conceived. At the same time, all of these artists are proven performers whose shows have impressed audiences from northern Europe to southern California, from Boston to Austin, and from Nashville to Kerrville. And to preserve the craft, Muse and his feature artists will not only play their own songs, but will throw in a few tunes from legendary Texas songwriters who have passed on, but who collectively created the world-famous genre of the Texas singer/songwriter.
The Schreiner Trailhead is an inviting, family-friendly venue, with an amazing set of amenities, including (besides a great outdoor stage and dance floor in the shade of some nice oak trees, alongside the Trailhead Beer Garden) multiple food trucks, an outdoor gaming court with washer and cornhole pitch, a sand volleyball court, a newly renovated disc golf course, and much more. Y’all come on out.

Bill Muse
Coordinator
Schreiner Songkeepers
Phone: 830-792-7355
Email: BMuse@schreiner.edu