From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V2 #144 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Friday, September 18 1998 Volume 02 : Number 144 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- The New CD [Leslie Dreyer Kalra ] Scans of Billboard available [Jeff Wasilko ] Susan Werner article from Billboard [Jeff Wasilko ] Re: believers-digest V2 #142 [user ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 22:21:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Leslie Dreyer Kalra Subject: The New CD I'd like to echo Carolyn's point about Susan's vocal quality on TBT. I haven't been able to get to a concert in quite some time now, so I hadn't heard most of the songs before -- I think I've heard only the title track in concert. I was disturbed by Susan's intonation, perhaps because it *is* such a departure from her older work. One of the many things I've appreciated about Susan is her desire to make the words heard. At a concert at the Philly Art Museum, for instance, she asked the audience several times if we could understand the words in the odd acoustics. She also always sings in a full, well-placed voice that makes me remember that she is a classically-trained musician. On this album, though, her voice is too breathy for my taste. While it may be intended to imply a more thoughtful, introspective mood, to me it just implies (and I'm sorry about this) vocal laziness. I also worry about the way she's using her vibrato -- it's getting a bit wide in places. Can those of you who have been lucky enough to attend some concerts tell me if this is a real trend for Susan or just a studio thing? I realize she needs to grow and change in her vocal style, but I'm concerned about the direction she's taking here. "Movie of My Life" sounds more like the Susan I know -- why is that saved for an uncredited song? (I also have some grousing to do about the tendency in movies and the music industry to have performers whisper all the time. I'm sure it's supposed to be so much more emotionally gripping that way, but it doesn't work when you CAN'T HEAR THE WORDS! But I won't go into that...:) Aside from my concerns about the vocal styling, I like the jazz flavor of some of the tracks. Susan is so rare in her ability to succeed in just about any musical genre. She's got just the right mix of truth and self-deprecating humor that resonates with so many of us. I miss the more tongue-in- cheek songs (like "Movie of my Life", which should be credited!), but I realize that she's playing for a mass audience here who may not appreciate them, and we do want her to succeed big (well, the selfish me would like her to stay our little secret just a *little* while longer :). What I'd like to see, as well as the Susan-and-piano album and the Susan-sings-the-standards album is the Susan comedy album, if you will, including "Movie of my Life", "Society Ball", "Baby Boomer", "The Boy from East Dubuque" (does she still do that one?), "Ain't I Lonely Tonight", "Cole Porter", and I'm sure some newer ones that have appeared in recent concerts that I don't know. In between the songs, she can do Sven and Oly jokes...:) Leslie HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 23:30:48 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Scans of Billboard available While we're waiting for the text versio of the article, you can grab the TIFF files if you have like at http://susanwerner.com/press/ - -Jeff HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 00:27:18 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Susan Werner article from Billboard Hi: There's a quick mention of Veda at the end of the article. Also, Susan's got a new web site at http://www.susanwerner.com WERNER GETS ON BOARD BOTTOM LINE WITH 'TRAINS' BY EILEEN FITZPATRICK LOS ANGELES - In an industry that loves to put artists into categories, Susan Werner is one singer/songwriter who's tough to peg. On her latest release, "Time Between Trains", due Tuesday (15) in the US and Canada from start-up indie label Bottom Line Records, Werner shifts easily from the folky title track to the jazz-inspired "Montgomery Street," which features a heavy bassline and muted trumpets that would be at home on a film noir thriller soundtrack. "This record is parked at the corner of Joan Baez and Cassandra Wilson," says the Philadelphia-based songstress. "It's more of an old-time jazz record than today's pop, which has the desire to perfect every track instead of looking for the emotional level of each song." Werner says she wanted to capture the production style of Norman Granz, one of the best-known jazz producers of the '50s and '60s, who produced many of Verve Records' greatest artists, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. (continued on page 109) WERNER GETS ON BOARD BOTTOM LINE WITH 'TRAINS' (Continued from page 11) "He captured the whole performer and really got what happened over the course of a five-minute recording session," she says, "and that's what we were trying to get with this recording." It's not surprising that Werner leans towards the classics: She has a master's in classical music from Philadelphia's Temple University. Familiar folk themes of betrayal, lost loves and facing life's crossroads are well-represented on "Time Between Trains", but Werner also throws in the breezy "Petaluma Afternoons" and the jazzy rap "Bring Round the Boat". This is Werner's fourth album and the first under her new deal with Bottom Line, which is distributed by BMG Distribution in Canada, and various indies throughout the rest of the world. Her 1995 effort, "Last of the Good Straight Girls," on Private Music, sold 22,000 units, according to SoundScan. She also self-released "Midwestern Saturday Night" in 1991 and "Live At Tin Angel" in 1993. Throughout the last five years, Werner has played more than 200 dates a year with established artists such as Richard Thompson and Joan Armatrading. And although she had three albums to her credit, Bottom Line was more impressed with her live performance resume. "Our whole philosopy is to sign acts that are out there doing it," says Bottom Line co-founder/president Hank Medress. "If I heard a great tape, we [still] wouldn't sign them until we heard them live. Medress says Werner's ability to "win over" an audience is her strongest asset. "She's a funny person, and her timing is excellent," says Medress. "She makes you feel like she's sitting in your living room - it's that intimate a performance." Because of Werner's strong performance abilities, Bottom Line's strategy for the new album is clear: tour, tour, tour. She is booked on a six-month tour swing that kicked off at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in Schwenksville, Pa., last month and winds down in Dallas in mid-January. Her booking agent is Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Fleming-Tamulevich, which also hands Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams. She is managed by Larry Goldfarb and Rich Cohen at Philadelphia-based Golden Guru Entertainment. "The most important thing is that we don't expect to sell a million units or even 100,000 units," says Medress. "We're about staying with the artist and building the audience." Bottom Line has used the same strategy with Canadian band Moxy Fruvous, which after years of touring is ready to "Break", according to Medress. The label has signed only one other artist, Veda Hille, another Canadian who Medress says "makes Tori Amos seem calm." Triple-A and noncommercial radio will be courted, and as Werner's fan base expands, the label hopes she will cross over into other formats. Werner already has caught the ear of WFUV New York Music director Rita Houston, who has supported the singer since her first album. "A lot of times a singer/songwriter is defined as someone up there with a guitar," says Houston, "but Susan has many more elements than just an acoustic guitar. There's a certain freshness to what she does, and sh'es an artist who has the potential to reach a wider audience." Werner's previous album bodes well for the new set, some retailers say. "Her last album did really well," says Newbury Comics buyer Carl Mello. "We put in a medium-sized buy for the new one and will feature it in our new-release section at our $11.88 sale pricing." HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Sep 98 02:09:29 -0000 From: user Subject: Re: believers-digest V2 #142 >In the liner notes Susan thanks Aramatrading, Thompson, Peter Paul and Mary >for the "year of finishing school". >Susan has it ALL BACKWARDS ... She took 'them' to school. >There remains no greater live performer than Susan Werner. Ahh but Susan would very firmly disagree. She really means it, regardless of who can cover who. Respect her respect? Keep believing, "The Bearded One" HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V2 #144 ******************************* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- This has been a posting from the Susan Werner believers-digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe believers-digest" in the body of the message