From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V10 #62 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Monday, September 18 2006 Volume 10 : Number 062 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- Newcomer introduction! ["Tracy J. Wells" ] OT -- death by snack food... [PBacoustic@aol.com] Welcome aboard, Tracy! ["Chuck Ellingson" ] Re: Welcome aboard, Tracy! ["Tracy J. Wells" ] missing susan werner ["Sharon G" ] Re: Welcome aboard [PBacoustic@aol.com] Re: OT -- death by snack food... ["Ron Rosen" ] Re: Newcomer introduction! ["Ron Rosen" ] Re: OT -- death by snack food... ["Ron Rosen" ] Re: missing susan werner [meredith ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:48:50 -0500 From: "Tracy J. Wells" Subject: Newcomer introduction! Hi fellow Susan fans! Wow, I'm glad I finally found this email list, after many hours spent googling Susan and finding various news articles, reviews, interviews, etc, online but never any "fan club"-y type stuff. I knew SURELY there must be an organized Susan Werner fan base out there, and I'm glad to have finally found it. Although... fan things are generally very bad for me, as they feed my addiction (I joined a message board dedicated to a touring Broadway performer who blew me away with his performance in Phantom of the Opera and due to the influences of his fellow crazed fans, wound up traveling to several different cities to see him again and again in the show... so... sometimes meeting others who are as nuts about a performer as you are can be detrimental to your health... and your pocket book!! Luckily folk concerts don't generally go for upwards of $70 a seat, as Broadway shows do! Maybe this will be a more affordable addiction....) All that being said, I'm still (stubbornly) glad to be here. ;o) Anyway, my name is Tracy and I'm originally from South Carolina... I lived in the Boston area for the past three years while in divinity school... and just recently moved to Omaha, Nebraska to do an internship with the Episcopal Church out here. One of my friends from div school invited me to Falcon Ridge last summer, which is where I first encountered Susan's music. I had been sitting out in the ROASTING sun all morning and was getting very tired, annoyed, and grouchy by the time Susan's set rolled around (and I had no clue who she was so I wasn't listening for her in particular or anything), but the second she started playing I sat up and took notice. I couldn't tell you who played before or after her, but she immediately grabbed my attention and I knew I'd make a beeline to the CD tent after her set was over to buy her CD. I'm a sucker for those "American songbook" type songs, and I LOVED the freshness of her material (hey, one can only listen to "I've Got You Under My Skin" and the like so many times!!) Anyway, I did buy her CD immediately and then saw her in concert twice over the past year, when she was at the Somerville Theater (right down the road from my house at that time) and Club Passim in Harvard Square. Fantastic shows both times. Especially love her new gospel tunes; I really resonate with them as someone who has been in and out with the church and find a lot of ambiguity and complexity in faith that often isn't portrayed in music about faith. Plus, some of it is just downright good theology (esp. the song about having "plenty and then some" & then going out to help others. I would totally make my congregation sing this in church if I were a music director.) Anyway, so I was even more excited about Falcon Ridge this year, actually being familiar with a lot of the artists now, and ESPECIALLY was looking forward to Susan's appearances, of course. Like a good loyal fan, I sat transfixed at every set she played (except the "land of the free" one which I didn't make it over to the workshop stage in time for and wasn't too worried about cause I figured she'd just being doing "my strange nation" for the 14,000th time. I loved it when I first heard it but having heard it a whole bunch of times recently I was less delighted with it and more interested in hearing new stuff or things I hadn't heard her play before -- variety. :o) Anyway, but Song Swap was fantastic on Friday, and I loved that Eddie from Ohio got her to come out and sing with them on "Operator" during the Gospel Wake Up Call on Sunday -- I was in hog heaven -- three of my favorite things in one place (EFO, Susan Werner, and Gospel Wake Up Call!) But, by far, the best part about the weekend was that I actually randomly MET Susan, in line for lunch at the Mediterranean food tent place after her set on Sunday! I respect and like her even more having met her and discovered what a great person she is and how willing she is to chat with fans - you can tell she really enjoys connecting with people. Anyway, that's my (long) introduction... you'll find that I can talk your ear off (I'm known at the message board for that Broadway performer for my VERY LONG and DETAILED reviews of performances and whatnot)... so if anyone wants to hear details of any concerts I see, I can sure "talk" your ear off! :o) I'm hoping to see her in Des Moines in January.... (This is where the unhealthiness of the obsession comes in -- no one else in their right mind would CARE to read the long detailed reviews of musicals that I write for that other board, but because those people love it, it eggs me on. This may be the same with this e-list! :o) ) Anyway, glad to be here! Grace and peace, Tracy 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:49:54 EDT From: PBacoustic@aol.com Subject: OT -- death by snack food... There are a lot of ways to die that have been described in songs, from shot in the back, to car wrecks, to hangings, to being run over by a car driven by a jealous woman (SW's "Got to See The Body"), to 9/11, and many, many more instances of lyrical tragedy... But I daresay that not one, nay, not one song has ever featured death by snack food (unless someone penned an epic based upon Dubya's inability to eat pretzels)... And no one ever says, "Watch out for the marshmallows" as you walk out the door to start your day: _http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/09/07/irwin.internet.reut/index.html_ (http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/09/07/irwin.internet.reut/index.html) Be careful out there! Paul **************************************** 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:03:00 -0500 From: "Chuck Ellingson" Subject: Welcome aboard, Tracy! I'm curious who the B'way performer is that you mentioned several times but never by name, Tracy. I think you'll find that there are many wonderful (some very talented) "believers" out here, Tracy, many just as nice as SW. :-) Speaking of the suze, I went to a concert of my friend, Scott Malcom (http://scottmalcom.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/scottmalcom) here in Milwaukee on Saturday night, and he sang Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time." I told my friend Yogi about the time at Luther College when I performed that same song. I had rehearsed the song playing piano for a change since I usually accompanied myself on the guitar. Well, at the last minute I chickened out and decided I wasn't comfortable enough with my ability to play the piano accompaniment and sing at the same time. I shared my trepidation with Susan, who was also on the bill, and she offered me her guitar to use. That's the kind of person Susan is and has been for all 23 years that I've known her! Peace, Chuck (aka Chase) Ellingson "We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal... We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:28:17 -0500 From: "Tracy J. Wells" Subject: Re: Welcome aboard, Tracy! Thanks, Chuck! I was wondering if my email had even gone out over the list or not... (I didn't see it come through on my email but I wasn't sure if I was SUPPOSED to get messages I sent out to the list myself or not)... anyway, glad to know it went through. And since you asked, the Broadway performer is Gary Mauer. He was recently playing the title role in Phantom on the national tour. I saw him in Boston in May 2005 and was blown away -- and this from a lifelong Phantom fan who always held all performers mercilessly to the original Phantom's standard (Michael Crawford), even though I'd never seen Crawford live (my parents had, on Broadway in 1988, and this is what started the constant playing of the soundtrack in my house as I was growing up). I'd seen Phantom 3 times before seeing Gary, and no one I'd seen in the role had really impressed me too highly. I even thought maybe I was getting to the point where I didn't like Phantom so much anymore and almost didn't even go, except that they were having a last-minute special on tickets when it was in Boston and I decided to take some friends who hadn't seen Phantom before. In any case, Gary's performance blew me away -- he has an AMAZING voice -- and now I hold him up higher than Crawford in my book.... and I proceeded to find his fan website (www.themauersonline.com) and the rest is history. Let's just say that before Gary, I'd seen Phantom 3 times... and I've now seen it 12 times!!!! (yeaaahhhh. I said "insane" and "psycho" and "obsessive" somewhere in my introduction, didn't I? ;o) ;o) Also got into frequenting the stage doors after performances and was lucky enough to meet both him and his wife, Elizabeth Southard on several occasions (Beth was playing Christine in the tour at the same time as he was the Phantom). The two of them are literally some of the nicest people I've ever met; I couldn't believe how much of their time they would give to standing around after the show and chatting with fans as if we were old friends. He recently left the tour, but often does concerts and such with orchestras and "pops" orchestras, singing showtunes and the like. Rumor is he's working on a solo CD as well. Oh, and another Broadway performer that I recently went nuts over was Julia Murney, who was playing the lead role in the tour of Wicked. (I wasn't able to follow her around the country and see the show a bunch of times, though, cause Wicked is considerably harder to get tickets to than Phantom, and also cause she left the tour not too long after I saw her in the role... so I only saw her once... sad.) Anyway, she has a solo CD out that I bought ( http://www.amazon.com/Im-Not- Waiting-Julia-Murney/dp/B000F2CC5Y ), only to discover she did a cover of one of Susan's songs on it (Misery and Happiness)!! :D And it's funny, because before I got Julia's CD, I hadn't know that one of Susan's songs, but as I was listening to Julia sing it, the lyrics and all caught my ear, and I'm like, "oh, this is really clever"... and I look at the liner notes, and what do you know -- it's a Susan Werner song! But of course! :o) I'm glad to be here and a part of this list... are many of y'all on here also performers yourself (as I gathered you are, Chuck, from your comments about performing somewhere where Susan was also performing???) Grace and peace, Tracy On Sep 18, 2006, at 1:03 PM, Chuck Ellingson wrote: > I'm curious who the B'way performer is that you mentioned several > times but never by name, Tracy. > > I think you'll find that there are many wonderful (some very > talented) "believers" out here, Tracy, many just as nice as SW. > :-) > > Speaking of the suze, I went to a concert of my friend, Scott > Malcom (http://scottmalcom.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/ > scottmalcom) here in Milwaukee on Saturday night, and he sang Cyndi > Lauper's "Time After Time." I told my friend Yogi about the time at > Luther College when I performed that same song. I had rehearsed the > song playing piano for a change since I usually accompanied myself > on the guitar. Well, at the last minute I chickened out and decided > I wasn't comfortable enough with my ability to play the piano > accompaniment and sing at the same time. I shared my trepidation > with Susan, who was also on the bill, and she offered me her guitar > to use. That's the kind of person Susan is and has been for all 23 > years that I've known her! > > Peace, > Chuck (aka Chase) Ellingson > > > "We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we > seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal... We must > pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." > Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:26:38 -0400 From: "Sharon G" Subject: missing susan werner welcome tracy, Your long reviews are welcome, your obession is welcome... Join the rest of us obsessed with Susan Werner... someone may ask me to turn in my susan werner pin because I missed 3 local shows in the last few weeks.... I missed The winery show with red molly - Shame on me ( does tickets to a private Shawn Colvin show at Christies, get me dispensation and forgiveness) I missed the Out post in the burbs... i had theater tickets to 25th annual Putnam Spelling Bee- Werner vs Broadway.... Id rather see Werner on Broadway and the houseconcert, church in CT on saturday night... i was in massachusetts with family obligations... Eckkk!!! but still... missing 3 werner's gets me on probation.... can someone fill us in on these three shows.... sharonG - -- Trust your intuition It's just like going fishing You cast your line And hope you're getting a bite But you don't need to waste your time Worrying about the market place Try to help the human race Struggling to survive its harshest night paul simon sage advisor, does weary mean wiser dar williams 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:30:41 EDT From: PBacoustic@aol.com Subject: Re: Welcome aboard tjwells@gmail.com writes: <<>> We're only mere hackers and hobbyists by comparison, with the exception of a few like Charlie, Kellie Lin, and Kenni... Paul **************************************** 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:11:52 -0700 From: "Ron Rosen" Subject: Re: OT -- death by snack food... Here's a song about death by snack food. I used to hear it all the time on the radio, I believe on Dr. Dimento or some other strange show that I might have found. Junk Food Junkie Junk Food Junkie (Larry Groce) 1976You know I love that organic cooking, I always ask for more. And they call me Mr. Natural, On down to the health food store. I only eat good sea salt. White sugar don't touch my lips. And my friends is always begging me to take them On macro-biotic trips. Yes they are... But at night I take out my strong box That I keep under lock and key. And I take it off to my closet Where nobody else can see. I open that lid so slowly, take a peek up North and South. Then I pull out a Hostess Twinkee* And I pop it in my mouth. In the daytime I'm Mr. Natural Just as healthy as I can be. But at night I'm a junk food junkie Good lord have pity on me. Yes sir... At lunch time you can always find me At the whole earth vitamin bar. Just sucking on my plain white yogurt From my hand grown pottery jar. And sipping little hand pressed cider With a carrot stick for dessert. And wiping my face in a natural way On the sleeve of my peasant shirt. Yes I do... Ahh But when that clock strikes midnight And I'm all by myself I work that combination On my secret hide-away shelf. And I pull out some Fritos corn chips, Dr. Pepper and an old Moon pie.* I sit back in glorious expectation Of a genuine junk food high. (chorus) Here we go now... My friends on down at the commune, Well they think I'm pretty neat. I don't know nothing about arts and crafts, But I give them all something to eat. I was a friend to ol' Ewell Gibbons And I only eat home grown spice. Got a John Keats autographed Grecian urn Filled up with my brown rice. Yes I do... Now folks, lately I have been spotted With a Big Mac on my breath.* Stumbling to a Colonel Sanders With a face as white a death. I'm afraid some day they'll find me Just stretched out on my bed With a handful of Pringles potato chips And a Ding Dong by my head.* (chorus) 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:19:03 -0700 From: "Ron Rosen" Subject: Re: Newcomer introduction! > Hi fellow Susan fans! Hi Tracy. Welcome aboard. This list is not as active as it used to be about 6 or 7 years ago, but it's still here. What musicals have you reviewed on your other list. I'd be curious to read some of them. Also, you might be interested in this Lee Lessack duet project that Susan was involved in last year: http://www.lmlmusic.com/product.php?id=LML-CD-186 If you like Broadway, you might like this a lot. Stephen Schwartz ( writer of Wicked) sings on it, as do Ann Hampton Callaway and Susan Egan. Susan does one song on it and Michael Feinstein and Lessack do May I Suggest. I was lucky enough to attend the concert based on this album and Susan and Ann Hampton Callaway stole the show. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:03:37 -0700 From: "Ron Rosen" Subject: Re: OT -- death by snack food... > From my hand grown pottery jar. That probably should be "hand-thrown pottery jar." 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:15:01 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: missing susan werner Hi, Sharon G wrote: > can someone fill us in on these three shows.... I wasn't able to go to the first two either, but woj and I did get to the Church House on Saturday evening. We've known the Friedlanders (the hosts) for a while, but this was the first time we'd managed to get out to Haddam for one of their shows. It was a great night. The Church House is exactly what it sounds like: a former Baptist church that is now a dwelling. About half of the original sanctuary remains as a HUGE open living room that is big enough for a stage on one end and seating for about 75 people. The Friedlanders have installed professional stage lighting, and a friend of theirs brings a full sound system and runs it. As such, this outfit is stretching the limits of the term "living room concert" ... but it's still a wonderful thing. The place was full. When introducing Susan, John asked if anyone in the audience had never seen Susan before, and about half the audience raised their hands! (Needless to say, Jane sold a TON of CDs that night, and the mailing list sheet was full. :) The sound and lighting were great, and Susan and Greg (yes, he was there too!) were in fine form. The first set consisted of songs from "I Can't Be New", in pretty much the usual order. After intermission is when the fun really began. :) Susan and Greg jammed on "Time Between Trains" and "Big Car", then she did "Barbed Wire Boys". Next she asked for requests and Greg ended up learning "Misery and Happiness" on the fly. :) Somewhere in there she did "May I Suggest" as well. Then it was time for "Movie Of My Life", and I don't know what Jane was doing but she managed to utterly crack Susan up in the middle of it. (I haven't seen Jane crack Susan up during that song in many, many years. :) woj and I were sitting in the back, and I was enjoying watching the newbies discover Susan for the first time. It's always a hoot to see someone's reaction to the payoff in "Big Car", for example. And of course "Movie Of My Life" had some people crying with laughter, and not only because Susan was practically crying laughing herself. :) Did I mention that Erin McKeown was in the audience? Well, she was. :) And Susan invited her up to play a few tunes. Erin sang lead on "Get Happy" (the Judy Garland classic), then Susan sat back and let Erin take the stage for her own "An Innocent Fiction". Finally the three of them did an absolutely killer version of a song I'm totally blanking on. :} Maybe woj can help me here ... it was really good, but I have no idea what it was. :} After Erin returned to her seat, Susan ended the show with some songs from the new project, which she deemed appropriate given the setting. I'm not clear on the titles, but she did the "save us from those who think they're you" one, then a gorgeous new one that I can only term an agnostic hymn. She ended with "My Strange Nation", of course. After a standing O she came back out and did a really nice cover of Bobby Vinton's "Sealed With A Kiss", and ended the night with "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", which she always knocks out of the park. A second standing O ensued, and that was that. So all in all, a great night at a great venue ... and less than an hour from home, no less! Doesn't get much better than that. - -- =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== hear at the HOMe House Concert Series http://hom.smoe.org =============================================== 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 V10 #62 ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------- 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