Songwriter Showcase Concerts & Open Mic

Songwriter Showcase Concerts
& Open Mic
Winter 2026

Join Tahoe Al for his NEXT Showcase Concerts at Unity at The Lake!

SATURDAY, January 17
Doors Open 6:30pm – Music 7:00pm
UNITY AT THE LAKE
870 Emerald Bay Road | Plaza 89 | Suites 205-208
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
TICKETS $15 at the Door

January 17, 2026
Concert Guest Performers

Howie Nave

HOWIE NAVE comes to the Showcase with a very impressive bio I can only briefly highlight here! Long- time South shore local with national music exposure on The Dr. Demento Show from sending in his original, off-the-wall comedy songs, Howie has opened shows for some big-name artists that include Johnny Cash, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, “Weird Al” and Robin Williams. When Howie started doing stand-up comedy in clubs he kept songs from his comedy album, “I Can’t Believe I Sang That!” in as well. Things really accelerated when Howie moved to Lake Tahoe and became the host/emcee of The Improv Comedy Club which introduced him to even more major headliners. Soon after he was given his own South Lake Tahoe radio show, Howie’s Morning Rush, on Tahoe’s KRLT 93.9FM (M-F, 6am-10am), where he is DJ and has interviewed many visiting performers including singer/actor Michael Crawford (Phantom of the Opera), Oscar-winning actors Jeff Bridges and Morgan Freeman, the late blues legend Bo Diddley and comedian Robin Williams, and rocker George Thorogood. The interviewing led to even more concert openings and Howie’s been on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” and did two USO tours entertaining our troops in Iraq and Kuwait. As Howie puts it, “Man, if ever there was a time to laugh NOW is that time.” It is an honor to welcome Howie to the Songwriter Showcase Concert stage. It’s going to be a real treat!

Kevin Whalen

I met KEVIN WHALEN at the Art League in town where he was presenting the story of how he came to record his first studio album, American Dreamer. Whalen is a talented singer-songwriter and recording artist with roots in Americana, country, folk and rock music and a contemporary sound. His influences include Petty, The Eagles, Keith Urban, Bob Seger, Jim Croce, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and many, many more. Whalen has developed a unique and creative sound that blends various types of music from America together. With heartfelt lyrics and memorable melodies Whalen captures the essence of storytelling and emotional depth with his guitar and voice, making him a standout music artist. Former sideman Whalen is stepping into the spotlight with his debut album, American Dreamer, featuring his own material and I am very pleased to welcome him to the Showcase stage! You can hear songs from Whalen and read more background info at https://whalen.bandzoogle.com/.

Tahoe AL and Kristal Matal performed at the Songwriter Showcase last summer. Kristal’s husband Jeff made a fantastic video of the ENTIRE SHOW July 12, 2025

EDDY UNDERTOW perfoming Like A Memory in the Spring 2024 SSC, May 25

“Tahoe Al” Miller perfoming Ravens in The Rain in the Summer 2024 SSC, August 17

THE MISSION

The purpose of the Songwriter Showcase Concerts (SSCs) is to provide a curated forum where music artists from the Lake Tahoe region and the listening public can come together in an intimate setting to enjoy high-quality live music with their friends and associates, and where the public can support local creators to present songs not heard elsewhere and provide feedback to the artists. The SSC proceeds on the basis that entertainment is a basic human need, and seeks to fill a niche to provide a richer, live music experience for the listener than is generally available locally, or available through the mainstream streaming media and the club circuit, or the large concert.

Those circuits preoccupy most working musicians with playing the popular songs of others (cover songs) promoted in the mainstream. Anyone can at times enjoy that sort or nightclub / bar / restaurant scene with all the new and old hits, an occasional original song, the extraneous noise and audience inattention to the music in the “background.” The SSC is intended to be a different kind of experience, a place where audiences and performers will engage with each other in high fidelity.

The SSC is also premised on the inherent human desire for new and novel songs, songs of our time and place, and in hopes that the greatest songs are as yet unwritten (taste being in the subjective ear of the listener) or are undiscovered or mostly unheard for lack of venues. The music industry is dying and moving to Artificial Intelligence, streaming legacy-band catalogs, and live shows for big bucks, but for a tiny minority of industrial artists among many unsung musicians. Having had more fun playing music and writing and recording songs than most anything else, Tahoe Al doesn’t plan to stop. The SSC is about fostering human creativity and expression and providing a venue locally to present his own creative works, and those of other songwriters and musicians, to interested listeners. May you enjoy them!

All are invited to come out and join the fun and the celebration of original live music with your friends, neighbors, community members and peers, get to know the songwriters, and experience and foster a unique form of entertainment and social interaction in our community. Likewise, with the Open Mics (OMs) planned, it will be a set after the SSC available for anyone to present original or cover songs, music, brief readings or poetry. This will be by sign-up the day of the SSCOM and ending by around 10 pm. Bring your best!