A place for all to sing

Laguna singer and songwriter Beth Fitchet Wood began performing for an audience on “Hoot Night” at venues like The Ash Grove, Golden Bear and Los Angeles’ Troubadour in the late ’60s — home of Bob Dylan’s folk-rock jam sessions and Buffalo Springfield’s live debut.

Still eager to play in front of a crowd and to help other artists do the same, Wood established “Singer/Songwriter’s Night” at the Marine Room in Laguna Beach in 2005.

The weekly Tuesday night “workshop” draws emerging and experienced musicians alike.

“I wanted an opportunity to play my own music and to play at least one set a week to keep my chops up,” Wood said. “Realizing that other [musicians] have this same need, I got this gig.

“I also wanted to give younger musicians a place to develop their skills because they have so few opportunities to play out,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see them improve.”

Wood modeled Songwriter’s Night after sessions at the Troubadour and Poul Pederson’s monthly events at the Renaissance Café, in which the hosts set the tone with a few songs of their own before subsequent performers take the stage — a style she said most people prefer to an “open mic” set-up or having to play off the host performance.

Wood can be seen Tuesdays at “Marbar,” strumming an old Martin D-18 guitar with fellow members of her two bands, “The Girls” and “The Snacks,” in which her husband, Steve, is the keyboardist, and she also plays bass.

Wood said they’ve been very lucky with their crowd, who always seem to appreciate something adventurous and different.

“People are able to come and try their new music, or different instruments or arrangements to a very interested audience.

“All these different ideas and personalities and approaches to music come out in extreme ways sometimes,” she said. “It’s very therapeutic and soul-satisfying.”

Wood said she’s always had a love for music and has been singing as long as she can remember. In her teenage years she discovered jazz, folk and rock ’n’ roll, which further developed her interest.

“At age 15 my mother bought me a guitar, and off I went. I learned to play from Peter Paul and Mary and Joan Baez records because it was easy to hear the individual notes,” she recalls.

“Then Bob Dylan came along and changed my life. I still play all of those kinds of songs.”

At 19, Wood moved from her home in Phoenix to pursue a music career in Hollywood. She and her three roommates began playing at Hoots Nights, where she met Steve and other members of their future band, Honk, which would tour with legends like Jackson Browne, The Beach Boys and Chicago before their split in 1975.

After years of being deprived of an outlet to release her new music, Wood said she is grateful to the folks at Marbar for opening up their facility.

She encourages all aspiring artists to attend a Tuesday night session. Anyone interested in performing is invited to bring a CD of their work.