The Greenwich Village Songwriter Exchange... Fast Folk... the Songwriter Meeting... it is known by many names. Kinda like Satan.

But basically it is this: 

For close to 30 years, admired writer and performer Jack Hardy, has been hosting songwriter get-togethers in his downtown apartment, every Monday night. The meetings had floated around a few different locations before ending up at Jack's place, which has truly become an icon in itself. An old tenement apt. with the bathtub in the kitchen and the toilet in the hall, and having seen it's share of couch-crashers over the years, it has many times been affectionately referred to as the Houston St. Hilton. 

What happens on Monday nights is quite special. The idea being that you push yourself as an artist by writing an entirely new song every week, and present it to the group for some honest feedback. What better way to understand what people hear than having them straight-out tell you? And by having a deadline each week, it keeps one from getting lazy or using the "I'm not feeling inspired" idea as a crutch.

Also a big part of Monday's, Jack stretches his other talent, cooking, by creating huge pots of  pasta masterpieces, usually accompanied by dangerous but delicious homegrown hot peppers. Dinner is consumed, as are several bottles of red wine, and after some lively discussion on everything from art & politics, to Bazooka Joe & ugly shoes, an old Martin Guitar is passed around and each person sings their new song for that week. 

Hundreds of songwriters of varying styles, abilities, and levels of distinction (yes, some famous) have come through and grown as a part of this group. Ken has indeed taken a new song to Jack's virtually every Monday for the last 5 years, and like countless others, has grown significantly as a writer as a direct result of this group.

Here are some scenes from past meetings and other family moments. Although, they might be interesting only to those that attend the meetings and know these people, feel free to click around.