The Songwriter Showcase at Prime Cut is a place for veterans and beginners alike to play their music and explore songwriting.

Freebo, a veteran musician of 40 years who has played with people like Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young, organizes the event. He has been running the event for about a year after he was asked to take it over.

One of his main goals is to encourage the creative power inside songwriting.

“I like to nurture creativity, to encourage original songs,” he said.

As someone playing for as long as he has, Freebo has found performing and writing original music to be satisfying in a significant way.

“For me, to be playing places like The Hollywood Bowl, to playing smaller places and playing my own music has been interesting. That’s why I promote creativity because I get to access my creativity at a much higher level, and there’s something very satisfying about that,” he said.

“I feel more complete as a musician and as a human being, when I go back to playing bass I have more fun than ever.”

Not all musicians at the showcase have decades of experience. Aubren Hickernell is a 15-year-old girl who has been playing guitar and writing songs for about two years and her vocal coach told her about performing at restaurants.

She has performed at Prime Cut twice.

The first time playing, Hickernell had some stage fright but the atmosphere of the restaurant eased her nerves.

“At first I was very nervous, but the crowd was pretty laid back and it has a good vibe. I wasn’t nervous this [second] time,” she said.

Hickernell feels supported when she plays at the Songwriter Showcase.

“It feels really great to have other musicians appreciate the music you’re playing and you appreciating their music,” she said. “It helps you build your music more and it’s always a good feeling when someone appreciates what you’ve done.”

Freebo sees the showcase as a way to connect with Bakersfield.

“It’s a nice chance to play locally. Now I kind of have a band, and I have guests come up. So musically it’s turned into a really nice thing,” he said.  “I’m fortunate that I know a lot of world class musicians. For me to be playing with these world class musicians and for them to be playing my music, for me to feature them, I could do it in LA, but to do it in Bakersfield is really wonderful.”

Dennis Wilson has been playing music all his life and currently plays the saxophone. He plays at Prime Cut as often as he can, sometimes twice a month with various bands around town.

When asked why he likes to play at Prime Cut he immediately replies “the food, I love the food here.”

But when it comes to music, he also enjoys the quality of the musicians and their musicianship. “These guys are just top shelf players, these are the best musicians to have around,” he said.  “It’s a hoot, it’s so much fun playing with them.”

The Songwriter Showcase at Prime Cut is held on Wednesdays once a month at around 7 p. m.  The day it is held depends on Freebo’s schedule but he tries to make it the first Wednesday of every month. For more information call Prime Cut at 661-831-1413.