START ON A FARM IN IOWA. Play piano and sax in school. Study opera in college. Get a master’s in classical music in Philadelphia. Start performing jazz in a trio but switch to solo folk, writing your songs and accompanying yourself on guitar. In your music, blend light and dark, rocking and reflective, country and city, jazz, pop and folk. Pour it into five albums. Tour for thirteen years. Voilà — Susan Werner. Well, maybe it wasn’t that easy, but fans and critics alike agree that all that talent and hard work make Werner stand out as a singer-songwriter. With influences like Nanci Griffith, Jacques Brel, Thelonius Monk, Joni Mitchell, Sting and jazz diva Shirley Horn, you’ve got to be interesting, especially if you’ve got the musical chops this lady has.
Werner is known for introspective songs about relationships that call to mind the wit and acuity of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, brilliant interpretations of songs like “Everybody’s Talkin’ ” and “Something So Right,” social commentary (“Barbed Wire Boys” never leave the farm), and simple, good-time songs that rock on about cars. As we said, a pretty good mix, fine musicianship, and a classically-trained voice. At the Me&Thee.
$15
Artful, funny, and blessed with a luminescent voice, [Susan Werner] combines a singer-songwriter’s keen attention to detail, a cabaret chanteuse’s sense of drama and a sardonic feminist’s approach to romance and relationships.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
Anyone who thinks that you have to go back 30 years for the best singer-songwriters need only listen to Susan Werner. Her new CD underscores her reputation as one of the best on the scene.
GEORGE GRAHAM
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