Berea doesn’t just host music — it grows it.
On Friday, January 23, Berea College’s Department of Music lists Songwriters Night at 7:30 p.m. at the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center, and the best part is the simplest: it’s free.
For locals who’ve never been, Songwriters Night is one of those events that quietly says a lot about Berea. It’s not billed as a polished concert with a velvet-rope vibe. It’s closer to a musical living room: writers, singers, and instrumentalists sharing songs—sometimes new, sometimes still in-progress—because this town still believes art is something you do with your neighbors, not just for them.
🎤 What Songwriters Night Tends to Be Like
Berea College describes Singer/Songwriter Night as an annual start-of-semester tradition hosted by the Berea College Folk Roots Ensemble, welcoming students, faculty, and community members to share music together.
In a past write-up, the evening included originals and covers, spontaneous harmonies, and an atmosphere where “mistakes” were part of the charm rather than something to fear.
That “open door” approach fits the setting. The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center exists to engage Appalachian communities through learning, partnership, and service, and its gallery is designed to transform—from exhibit space to classroom to performance hall—depending on what the community needs that day.
🌄 Why This Matters in Berea Right Now
There’s a reason nights like this land well here: Berea is one of the few small towns where you can spend an evening hearing songs that may not exist anywhere else yet — lines scribbled last week, melodies tested out in real time — and still be home at a reasonable hour.
And because it’s on the calendar the same night as other big arts options around town, it’s also a choose-your-own-adventure kind of Friday: you can lean into the listening-room intimacy at the Appalachian Center, or build a full weekend of live performance.
🎠A Natural Companion: Live Theater Across Town
If Songwriters Night puts you in the mood for more live storytelling after the last chorus fades, The Spotlight Playhouse opens its next show that same weekend.
“Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch (or The Perfumed Badge)” runs January 23–25 and January 30–31 at Spotlight’s Richmond Road location.
It’s a different flavor than a songwriter circle — bigger laughs, bigger characters — but it’s the same idea: local audiences showing up to keep Berea’s stages (and the people on them) thriving in winter.
If You Go
Songwriters Night (Berea College Department of Music)
đź“Ť Loyal Jones Appalachian Center, John B. Stephenson Hall (First Floor), 205 N. Main St., Berea
đź—“ Friday, January 23, 2026
⏰ 7:30 p.m.
🎟 FREE
Also opening this weekend:
Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch — The Spotlight Playhouse