On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, Suite101 had the pleasure to interview Grammy award-winning songstress Suzy Bogguss. A beloved country music vocalist, Bogguss talks about her career, musical inspirations, as well as her newest album American Folk Songbook.
Suzy Bogguss Discusses the Assets of Country Music
“I love the stories. You’re telling a story, and you feel that people are accepting it or they are applying it to their own experience. I like the communication part of it a lot,” says Bogguss.
Bogguss Reveals her Influences in Music
According to Suzy Bogguss, “I started out with James Taylor and Emmylou Harris. I loved Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton.”
Bogguss Talks About her Newst Album: American Folk Songbook
Regarding her American Folk Songbook album, she remarks “I was out on the road with Garrison Keillor, the fellow who hosted A Prairie Home Companion, and I just started to sing along and I went back in time when I was kid, and how we used to sing these American folk songs. I’m not sure all the young people are learning these songs like we did, because they are cutting the school programs, so I decided to do my own book and my own recordings of the songs.”
Bogguss continues, “it began with me looking back in my memory from what songs were my favorite from my fifth and sixth grade songbook. My guitar player and I started with one recording session with Red River Valley, Froggy Went A-Courtin, Shenandoah and Shady Grove. That’s why I picked those songs as the first four on the record, since that’s where the project began. I was thinking we were making demos at the time. Then we did the same thing again with a few more songs. Through the process, we realized that we wanted the album to be simple, to celebrate the story and melody of the song. As far as we took it, we decided not to overproduce it.”
Bogguss Reveals her Favorite Songs from the Record
She notes that her personal favorite song from the new record is Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier. “That song just speaks to me. It’s probably the saddest and most beautiful melody.”
Yet another favorite tune is Shenandoah. “There is something about this song that makes me weepy,” she adds.
Bogguss Talks About the Song Eerie Canal
“Eerie Canal was one of those songs that we used to sing in fifth grade. We used to belt it as loud as we could. That one in particular got me thinking about the book, and how it was going to look. I would just find myself dreaming about these places that I’ve never seen. Growing up in a little cornfield in Illinois, to see something like a canal like that was amazing to me!”
Bogguss Talks About her Rendition of Wildwood Flower
“I decided to sing the original lyric because I like the way that the story ends better,” laughs Bogguss. “I love the Carter Family so much, and they gave that song a new life, and their rendition of it is what we think of when we think of Wildwood Flower. When I started researching it, I found the original poem’s lyrics, I just loved the fact that the woman is moving on, and had a positive attitude, instead of sitting around and moping about the fact that this guy had dumped her. She decided that she was going to go to the party and be the belle of the ball,” she says.
Bogguss Talks About her Proudest Accomplishments
“Making an album with Chet Atkins and getting a Grammy award,” reveals Bogguss.
Bogguss Shares her Dream Collaboration Choices
With regard to her dream collaboration choices, she states “I’ve been fortunate enough to sing with Vince Gill a couple of times. If I had a wish, I would love for him to ask me to sing on one of his records. That would be a big thrill for me. I’ve had the opportunity to have Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea, and a lot of good buddies of mine sing with me. I just love their voices.”
“Maybe Martina McBride. Perhaps I could pay her back for her singing harmony on my Hey Cinderella record. If she would like me to sing some harmonies for her, that’ll be a big honor,” she adds.
Bogguss Talks About Country Singer James Wesley
“I met James Wesley at his first Grand Ole Opry appearance. He was awesome! He did great with the audience. I really enjoyed his performance. He was such a great guy too. He’s very outgoing and comfortable in his skin. In the country music field, you need to be accessible. He handles himself with a lot of confidence and I found him very charming,” Bogguss says.
Bogguss Addresses her Loyal Fans
For her fans, Bogguss concludes “come out and see us live. If you can get out and share something like that with a whole bunch of different types of people, you never know who you will meet! I’ve had people come to my shows with other people that they’ve met online. You can make friends, and it’s kind of cool.”
Many thanks to Suzy Bogguss for granting this interview!
For the latest information on Suzy Bogguss and newest record, please visit her official website.
Source
- Telephone Communication. Suzy Bogguss. July 27, 2011.
Markos Papadatos - Markos Papadatos holds over six years journalism experience, authoring over 700 articles, many of which are feature profile interviews.
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