In the fall of his final year at NDSU ('10-'11), Chase Burkhart started organizing the "NDSU Songwriter Showcase" performances in Beckwith featuring all the talented songwriters he was meeting via the music program. Chase alone covered all duties that would eventually be divided up between the 5 future officers of the Guild, literally running every aspect of the planning/recruiting process of the
show, acting as director, stage manager, and MC at every event. It was Chase who recruited Emily to join for that very first performance and eventually sold her on the idea of registering the group as an official student organization with her as president. After the final Showcase of that Spring, Emily and Chase got together and gathered all the information, filled out the necessary paper work, and wrote up the initial version of the constitution with bylaws and directions for each officer position. For that first year of the newly christened "NDSU Songwriter's Guild" while Emily and the new officers managed the organization, Chase was still highly involved with recruiting and active in our monthly meetings. He even performed at the first few official Guild events, including one at the Red Raven, and he audio recorded the entire show. Chase posted those recordings on a website... soundcloud.com/ndsusongwritersguild
