From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V8 #28 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Sunday, February 29 2004 Volume 08 : Number 028 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- New Release!!! and schedule ["Susan Werner News" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 08:36:56 -0500 From: "Susan Werner News" Subject: New Release!!! and schedule Dear Friends, On March 9th, Susan's new record, I Can't Be New, will be released on Koch Records. I have attached the track list and press release for this record, to give you an insight into what this wonderful recording contains. We have already taped Friday Morning Edition/NPR, and Mountain Stage, which will be aired shortly after the release. Koch seems very excited about this record, and we will have listening posts in Barnes and Noble, in March, and Borders, in May. I will try to keep you updated on special happenings, and urge you to keep up with Susan at http://www.SusanWerner.com. You can hear samples from the new release at: http://www.kochint.com/catalog/infopage.aspx?number=KOC-CD-9521 or http://makeashorterlink.com/?W26031E87 The schedule follows the information on the CD. As always, we seek your support at gigs, calling into radio stations, and in general spreading the word about Susan. Thank you. Larry Track list: 1. I Can't Be New 2. Late For The Dance 3. Seeing You Again 4. I'm Not Sure 5. Much At All 6. Tall Drink Of Water 7. You Come Through 8. No One Needs To Know 9. Let's Regret This In Advance 10. Don't I Know You? 11. Philanthropy 12. Stay On Your Side Of Town 13. Coda: Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter From: Koch Entertainment SUSAN WERNER I Can't Be New "Werner's lyrics are pure poetry" Philadelphia Daily News George Gershwin. Cole Porter. Richard Rodgers. Billy Strayhorn. The Golden Age of Popular Song. A bygone era. No one can write tunes like that anymore. Or has Susan Werner added a new chapter to the Great American Songbook? I Can't Be New (Koch Records), is Werner's fourth nationally released recording, and while charting somewhat new territory in style, it offers the same high quality writing that her fans have come to expect. Werner performs 12 original compositions in the songbook style. And in this nod to the composers of standards, she's breathed new and brilliant life into the popular song tradition, one that many thought was a closed book. "This is a songwriter's record. I'd describe the aim of this project as Carole King's Tapestry meets Ella Fitzgerald's Cole Porter Songbook," Werner suggests. "I listened to Ella and a lot of Julie London when recording this thing. Julie London, especially, she could read down a ballad so simply and beautifully, you'd just fall over and die." However, Werner cautions, this isn't a record for jazz purists: "The purists want old songs done in a new way," Werner says. "These are all new songs done in an old way." And if standards have become the measure for all other songs, "It's my secret hope, and I'd be overjoyed," she adds, "if even one of these songs from the record becomes a standard." A breakthrough singer-songwriter in the mid-90s, Susan Werner has toured with countless luminaries including Joan Armatrading and Richard Thompson. Werner also appeared on the Peter, Paul & Mary Lifelines special seen nationally on PBS. Her 2002 release, "new non-fiction", received numerous accolades for its insightful social commentary and introspective stories. That's why The Boston Herald said, "If the Grammy Folks knew what they were doing, it would be near the top of the list in next year's Contemporary Folk category." With Werner's musical training (a Master's degree in classical voice) and live reputation as one of the most compelling performers on the touring circuit, writing and singing in such an intimate fashion was a bold departure. "The extroverted performer bends and serves the introverted writer on this record," Werner explains. "It was the most wonderful and rewarding challenge of my career." Werner and Boston-based producer Crit Harmon (Martin Sexton) set an early goal to create an emotionally powerful album filled with songs that engage listeners with beautiful vocals and moving performances, not solos. "Susan's incredible musicianship made my job easier because she could record take after take, each one technically flawless," Harmon says. "This allowed me to push her for versions which delivered the most emotional content." Drawing from a deep well of talented Boston-area musicians, Harmon brought together an elegant team that included legendary clarinetist Billy Novick (David Bromberg), pianist Brad Hatfield (Boston Pops), upright bassist John Lockwood (Harry Belafonte) and drummer Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention). "I didn't want to reinvent a style that was done 40 or 50 years ago," Harmon explains. "I wanted to make a hybrid statement and avoid any clichi treatment of Susan's songs." Most of all, Harmon is proud of this: "You can't listen to this record without getting a lump in your throat at least once -- and I'm betting it'll be more than once." The remarkable song craft of I Can't Be New is readily apparent, even when simply reading the lyrics. Werner explores the mindset of the ambivalent lover in "I'm Not Sure." "I knew I had a song when I was free-associating lyrics at a typewriter and re-read this line," says Werner. 'cause love is the one drug no one does without love is a cruel drug when it's cut with doubt somewhere, my darling, you'll find love that's pure ~ but it's not mine, cause I'm not sure Sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley Field, watching a game between cross-town Chicago rivals the Cubs and the White Sox, Werner came up with the idea for the wry and melancholy "Stay On Your Side of Town." I get the north side where the brownstones are ~ you get the south side and the big blues bar cross the river and you've come too far ~ stay on your side of town But it's the title track, "I Can't Be New," which sets the album's tone and exemplifies Susan's shining skill as a lyricist. I can be the sky ~ the very wild blue yonder but I can't catch your eye ~ when it starts to wander as I've seen it do ~ oh, at least a time or two I'll be anything for you, baby ~ but I can't be new Other album highlights include the one-night-stand instant classic, "Let's Regret This In Advance," the secretive "No One Needs To Know" and the heartbreaker, "Much At All." Not that there's a dearth of light-heartedness. One only needs to hear the naughty, tack-piano fun of "Seeing You Again," the happy-go-lucky swing of "You Come Through" or the steamy and seductive "Tall Drink of Water" to know Werner covers all the emotional bases. "It's the economy of the Great American Songbook tunes that I admire the most," says Werner. "That's the hardest thing to achieve - to pack all of this feeling, longing, heartbreak or desire into the tiniest song form. It's deceptively difficult." It's also quite possible we've all been deceived into believing the era of the Great American Songbook has come to an end. In creating I Can't Be New, Susan Werner may have sparked something very new - a revival of interest in writing traditional pop songs. And that would be a Great American thing, indeed. Visit Susan Werner online at: www.susanwerner.com For further information, please contact: Publicity Sheryl Feuerstein EastWest Media 310-821-5858 sheryl@eastwestmedia.net Management Lawrence M. Goldfarb 610-891-9766 goldy@snip.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Schedule ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS ALWAYS. CALL THE VENUE BEFORE MAKING THE TRIP!!!!! 3/12/2004 The Listening Post Wilmington DE 302-834-3732 8:00 pm 3/13/2004 Joe's Pub New York NY 212-539-8500 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm 3/14/2004 Turning Point Piermont NY 845-359-1089 7:00 pm 3/18/2004 Cafe Montmartre Madison WI 608-255-5900 tba 3/19/2004 Charlotte's Web for Performing Arts Rockford IL 815-624-7692 8:00 pm 3/20/2004 Schuba's Chicago IL 773-327-0552 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm 3/26/2004 The Winchester Cleveland OH 216-226-5681 tba 3/27/2004 The Ark Ann Arbor MI 734-761-1800 8:00 pm 4/2/2004 Capo's Lowell MA 978-453-5755 8:00 pm 4/3/2004 Club Passim Cambridge MA 617-492-7679 7:00 pm 4/4/2004 Club Passim Cambridge MA 617-492-7679 10:00 pm 4/9/2004 The Point Bryn Mawr PA 610-527-0988 7:30 pm and 10:00 pm 4/10/2004 The Tin Angel Philadelphia PA 215-928-0770 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm 4/16/2004 The Barns of Wolftrap Vienna VA 703-938-2404 8:00 pm 4/17/2004 The Barns of Wolftrap Vienna VA 703-938-2404 7:30 pm 4/29/2004 Mississippi Studios Portland OR 503-753-4473 8:00 pm 4/30/2004 Soho Santa Barbara CA 805-962-7776 7:00 pm 5/1/2004 McCabe's Guitar Shop Santa Monica CA 310-828-4497 7:30 pm 5/2/2004 Freight and Salvage Berkeley CA 510-548-7603 8:00 pm 5/7/2004 Lighthouse Coffeehouse Des Moines IA 515-223-1639 8:00 pm 5/14/2004 Caffe Lena Saratoga Springs NY 518-583-0022 8:00 pm 5/15/2004 Iron Horse Music Hall Northampton MA 413-584-3177 7:00 pm 5/16/2004 Ridgefield Library Ridgefield CT 203-438-2282 2:00 pm 7/8/2004 Longwood Gardens Kennett Square PA 610-388-1000 tba 9/5/2004 Upper Merion Township King of Prussia PA 610-265-1071 8:00 pm 10/23/2004 Appel Farm Arts and Music Festival Elmer NJ 856-358-2472 8:00 pm 3/13/2005 Staller Center Stony Brook NY 631-632-7230 7:00 pm HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V8 #28 ****************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------- 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