Making the Rounds

A favorite song is intensely personal, a window into your history, a psychological snapshot from a precise place and time. Very often it feels as if someone wrote that song just for you.

At Circle of Songs, the folks who compose everyone else’s favorites show off some of what they write for themselves. Every Sunday night, the Gig in West L.A. gives voice to five songwriters, who play their original material in rounds. In turn, each performer offers an introduction and sings a song.

Jenna Leigh, the Gig’s manager, was trying to fill a void on the Westside when she created Circle of Songs last June. “When At My Place closed its doors, many local bands and songwriters were forced to find a new home to showcase their music,” she said. “I had a flashback of my old musical haunt when I stepped foot in the West L.A. Gig for the first time.”

About the same time Leigh took over as the Gig West’s general manager, she traveled to Atlanta with her own band for the 1998 Atlantis Music Conference. A showcase called “How I Wrote That Song,” featuring Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls and Shawn Mullins, inspired her. “The event was magical in that all the writers sat on stage together while taking turns performing, and occasionally, one songwriter would sing backup or play guitar on another’s song,” Leigh remembered.

Gathered in a semicircle on stage at the Gig West, the five songwriters offer observations as diverse as the storytellers themselves. It can be a mixed bag of honky-tonk blues to straight-ahead folk to neo-grunge, all in one evening.

Australian-born Rachel Gaudry, with angelic grace and voice, assures the audience, “If you know what you want, you’re gonna get what you need,” as she playfully taps the keys of her electronic piano in her “Song About Matthew.” Vancouver native Nancy Weisler preaches life philosophies in her middle-of-the-road pop songs. Gary Myrick, a veteran finger-picking Texan, adds unexpected treats to blues- and waltz-structured songs, from tumbleweed vampirology to the ghost of Elvis.

James Michel’s sincerity and humor are his strongest links to the audience. Before this musician from Michigan rips into his energetic lyrical spoof on drugs in “Chemical,” he blurts out: “I wrote this song on the day I decided I’d never write another song. It’s why I’m still in the music business. And by the way, I hate this song.”

And, finally, Tom Anderson, a product of Vermont, sits on his stool and tries to convince us that “a broken heart is a beautiful thing.” Under the influence of his gently strummed guitar, we might just believe him.

The format may not be original, but it’s enjoyable. The circle ends with a jam session featuring a jumping rendition of a Rolling Stones classic. The whole room sings “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” The irony is that here at the Gig West, Leigh has proven that sometimes you can.

BE THERE

Circle of Songs, at the Gig West, 11637 W. Pico Blvd., West L.A. Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Cover varies. (310) 239-7755.