Suzy Bogguss

“You can’t deal me the aces and think I wouldn’t play,” says Suzy Bogguss with a twinkle in her eye as she discusses her latest studio album Sweet Danger. It’s a line from one of her signature songs, but it’s also the philosophy with which the Illinois-born singer manages her career, and the stepping-off point for a collection of her strongest songwriting and most evocative vocals to date. “I’ve been so fortunate to meet all these great people in all genres of music,” she says. “To learn from them and grow is amazing. How could I not make music with the friends I’ve made over the years?” One of those friends is legendary jazz producer and keyboardist Jason Miles with whom Bogguss co-produced Sweet Danger. Miles has worked with the biggest names in jazz and popular music including Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Chakka Kahn and Sting. He became friends with Bogguss over a decade ago when he was producing a children’s album of Elvis Presley covers and asked her to contribute a track. The two shared a love of music that wasn’t defi ned by boundaries or classifi cation. They became fast friends and stayed in touch over the years. A chance conversation after a show in New York led to their collaboration on the new album. “I love the sweetness of making a snap decision and the danger of living with the consequences,” Suzy says. “When I went to New York that fi rst time and we started to record, I called home because I was freaking out. I thought ‘oh my God, what is this music?’ I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know how to control it. As soon as I hung up and went back into the studio, I just let go, enjoyed the process and followed the music wherever we needed to go. Then I was elated. I came home with these tracks that were new and different and that was so exciting. I couldn’t wait to get started writing the rest of the album.” But she still doesn’t know what it is. Certainly the songs, seven of which Suzy wrote, stand alongside the best she’s ever recorded. They could easily have been included on one of the hit-maker’s seminal recordings from the early nineties. But the production, while unquestionably current, harkens back even further to albums by the likes of James Taylor, Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell. The new record is just the latest collaboration in a career that has always been adventuresome. Bogguss teamed with the late, great Chet Atkins on Simpatico, an album which received near universal praise. She also teamed with Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel on Swing, an album full of swing tunes soaked in jazz. “Maybe the Swing album gave me the inspiration, but I feel like I’m still learning about my voice and what makes it appealing. I like to swoop and swell and even soar, but I just don’t want to yell anymore. That’s not my gift. I never wanted to be a vocal acrobat, I sing songs.” Like most explorers, she offers no apologies for chasing her muse wherever it leads her. She’s always listened to her head and her heart when picking music for her albums. She’s guided by a desire to be true to herself while communicating with her audience. She says, “What I’m really trying to do is make music that people like. That’s why I started playing in bars in the fi rst place. That’s why I listened to people when they told me I should sing another person’s songs. I believed them. We were talking to each other. We were communicating. That’s what’s so great about the Internet now. It’s what we used to do with artist co-ops and mailing lists only now you can reach millions of music fans instead of hundreds.” Connecting with her audience has been a fundamental part of her career since she graduated from Illinois State University with an art degree and began touring the coffeehouse and club circuit. After five years crisscrossing the country in a camper truck, Bogguss landed in Nashville and immersedherself in the creative community. She found like-minded writers who believed in songs with style and substance. Her big break came when a talent scout from Capitol Records saw her perform at Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s theme park in East Tennessee’s Smokey Mountains. A tape of her music that she sold at the park got into the hands of a label executive and three weeks later she was signed. Her strong, supple voice and straightforward style were a clarion call for country fans looking for music with meaning. Songs like “Aces,” “Drive South,” “Someday Soon,” “Outbound Plane” and “Letting Go” soon took her to the top of the country music charts. Along the way she won raves from critics and her peers in all genres. She won the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award in 1992 and album of the Year Award in 1994, ASCAP country and pop awards for her songwriting, and in 2005 a Grammy for her contribution to the Best Folk Album, Beautiful Dreamer, the Songs of Stephen Foster. The only way to describe her career arc would be as an evolution. One project inevitably led to the next. That’s one of the reasons she’s so excited about Sweet Danger. “The whole process was so natural,” she says. “From my friendship with Jason through the whole writing and recording process. It was challenging at fi rst because this was new territory for me, but when I let go and surrendered to the experience it happened so easily. I left New York sort of mesmerized with the whole process. Everybody just wanted to make something—to create.” The joy and creative freedom she felt imbues every note of Sweet Danger. Always a sublime, controlled singer, she hits a new milestone with this collection. By stretching, testing and challenging her limits, she’s captured the best vocals of her career. Like all of her previous work, the new record is fi lled with songs of emotional integrity. She covers Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” and creates a totally new vibe by stripping the song down to its emotional core and rebuilding it with a tight acoustic ensemble. Verlon Thompson’s “No Good Way To Go” is an inner diolog on how to end a relationship, half sung and half spoken with smoldering sexuality. She turns to husband/songwriter Doug Crider for “In Heaven,” the emotional centerpiece of the album. The song, which deals with love, loss, letting go and moving on, is especially poignant because it was written about close friends of Bogguss and Crider. It also has an incredible, instantly, memorable melody. She remains consistent in her unwillingness to be defi ned by the expectations of others. She’s always been the type of artist to boldly listen to her instinct and chase that wily muse where it leads her. Suzy Bogguss has always, and will always take the road less traveled...and that has made all the difference.