Susan Werner opens the TPF 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend
Who better to start off the Ten Pound Fiddle's 50th Anniversary weekend than the multi-talented writer, composer, singer and performer extraordinaire, Susan Werner! It has been too long since Susan has graced the Fiddle stage, sharing stirring and funny songs and stories playing the piano, guitar or just plain singing a cappella.
“(Werner is) a songwriter and musician who is in such complete command of her gifts that it’s almost scary.” – All Music Guide
“When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner’s only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon.” – No Depression
Over the course of her twenty five year career, Susan Werner has earned a reputation as “one of the most innovative songwriters working today” (Chicago Tribune). With formidable chops on guitar (she began playing at age 5) and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz), along with a graduate degree in voice performance, her shows are a one-woman master class in musicianship. Although best known as an acoustic songwriter that came up through coffeehouses and folk festivals, the Chicago-based artist has written songs in the style of Gershwin and Cole Porter (I Can’t Be New, 2004), gospel music (The Gospel Truth, 2007), traditional Cuban “son” (An American In Havana, 2016), and New Orleans junk piano (NOLA, 2019). In 2014 she composed the music and lyrics to the musical theater score Bull Durham, The Musical (MGM). Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Michael Feinstein, and Shemekia Copeland, and her latest recording of originals, The Birds of Florida, took flight in 2022.
“(Werner is) a songwriter and musician who is in such complete command of her gifts that it’s almost scary.” – All Music Guide
“When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner’s only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon.” – No Depression
Over the course of her twenty five year career, Susan Werner has earned a reputation as “one of the most innovative songwriters working today” (Chicago Tribune). With formidable chops on guitar (she began playing at age 5) and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz), along with a graduate degree in voice performance, her shows are a one-woman master class in musicianship. Although best known as an acoustic songwriter that came up through coffeehouses and folk festivals, the Chicago-based artist has written songs in the style of Gershwin and Cole Porter (I Can’t Be New, 2004), gospel music (The Gospel Truth, 2007), traditional Cuban “son” (An American In Havana, 2016), and New Orleans junk piano (NOLA, 2019). In 2014 she composed the music and lyrics to the musical theater score Bull Durham, The Musical (MGM). Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Michael Feinstein, and Shemekia Copeland, and her latest recording of originals, The Birds of Florida, took flight in 2022.