Smart pop-folk for grown-ups from an award-winning female singer-songwriter and her on-target band.

14 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, FOLK: like Ani



Details:
She's won awards. Their albums have been played on hundreds of radio stations worldwide. She can sing, too: "a soulful, commanding voice" said the New Yorker. "A great band" announced JPFolks.com. She wrote a how-to-sing book and CD that's selling briskly on the internet (www.singersworkout.com), and her voice students include some famous people who don't want you to know they take singing lessons.

The East Bay Express says "Susan is a wonderful singer, an amazing songwriter, and just plain all-'round fine entertainer." Maybe you've never heard of Susan's Room. They are one of those undiscovered gems in the indie world, writing, releasing albums, touring, doing what they love. Check out their "music for adults: smart and insightful" (Dirty Linen) on their newest release Room #5.

The album title Room #5 came first-it's their fifth release. Then Susan sat down to write a title cut. It's a stark look at a disintegrating marriage that is both dark and beautiful, what many of Susan's songs are known for. She's also got a reputation for writing pop-folk songs about some off-kilter subjects, like shoplifting and Perry Mason. She's doing it again here: agoraphobia and narcissism get examined on Room #5, along with more of her "analytical, introspective, often witty tunes" (Cleveland Free Press). Lead guitarist Tom Manche produced and engineered the album, and drummer Albe Bonacci and bassist Ritt Henn once again are the more-than-able rhythm section. Among the "guest room" musicians are John "J.T." Thomas (the Bruce Hornsby Band) and folk diva Kristina Olsen.

Susan grew up in Berkeley, California, at the tail end of the revolutionary wave rolling through the Bay Area. After collecting degrees at UC Santa Cruz and SF State, she got herself into a plethora of weird and/or cool musical situations. Among the weird: delivering singing telegrams wearing a table around her waist and teaching doo-wop versions of Beatles songs to Buddhist monks. Among the cool: stints in a cappella, rock, jazz and Motown bands.

In the early 90s Susan moved to Los Angeles where she met (and later married) displaced Ohioan Tom Manche. Susan's Room was formed, and the band released four albums throughout the rest of the decade, all to glowing reviews. They found a radio home at non-commercial and community radio stations worldwide. Susan and Tom now live and record in Nashville, Tennessee.