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Suzy Thompson
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Sounds | Bio | Discography (coming soon) | Reviews| Lessons |E-mail
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Go here to "stop and listen" to some of the cuts from Suzy's newest CD: Stop and Listen page. THE NEWEST CD: Suzy's latest CD, "Stop & LIsten: Live at the Freight", on the Arhoolie label, was released in February, 2005. As the title indicates, it was recorded before a (very) live audience at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage, in April 2004, and (like "No Mockingbird") is a mix of oldtime fiddle rags and blues songs, with many friends helping out, including Del Rey, Eric Thompson, Ben Sigelman, Larry Hanks, Thompson String Ticklers, and Kate Brislin. The cover features an oil painting of Suzy done by Allegra Thompson. We're not set up for online ordering, but you can order one directly from Suzy (and she'll be happy to autograph it, too!) by sending her an email: E-mail Suzy. To read the liner notes, and hear some of the tracks, visit Stop and Listen page.STILL AVAILABLE: Suzy's debut CD, "No Mockingbird", which features oldtime fiddle rags and blues songs (plus a few other things that seemed to fit in) with help from lots of musical friends including Kate Brislin, Bill Evans, Paul Hostetter, Tony Marcus, Geoff Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, Dave Murray, Hoyle Osborne, Del Rey, Fritz Richmond, Mike Seeger, Jody Stecher, Eric Thompson, Larry Cohea, and Steven Strauss. To hear music from "No Mockingbird", read liner notes, and order your very own copy, please visit the Native & Fine records website: www.nativeandfinerecords.com/NoMockingbird/index.html. You can also order "No Mockingbird" directly from Suzy (autographed, if you wish) by sending her an email: E-mail Suzy. Lessons Suzy writes: I teach private fiddle and singing lessons. One of my goals as a teacher is to develop the student's ear so that she or he can then learn tunes or songs (from recordings or other musicians) more easily. I also try to educate the student about where the music comes from. This can include discussing the musicians and their styles, listening to alternate or related versions of material, etc. Lessons are given at my studio in Berkeley, near College and Ashby Avenues; it is easily accessible by bus or BART. For more info, E-mail Suzy or phone 510-848-5018. FIDDLE: I focus on southern oldtime Appalachian music, Louisiana Cajun fiddling, oldtime blues fiddle and early bluegrass. Most of my students are intermediate or advanced players, but I also enjoy teaching beginners who have been bitten big-time by the fiddle bug! Lessons are tailored to each individual student's learning style and musical interests. I teach by ear, making use of extensive source material from my collection: field recordings, reissues of '78's, out-of-print LPs, etc. Students bring a recording device to the lessons since I don't use printed music. We work on technique (holding the fiddle, use of the bow, intonation) in addition to learning repertoire. When learning a traditional fiddle style, I believe that the best way to start is to mimic the source as exactly as possible (within the limits of the players abilities of course!), in order to preserve the wonderful quirks and flavors of the music. This is an important step on the road to creating a player's own individual style of fiddling. SINGING: My goal is to help the student to discover the voice that is already in there, somewhere! We work on finding the emotional core of the song, with breathing, intonation, phrasing, etc. I have students that are interested in specific genres like blues, bluegrass, or old-timey, but we work with songs of all kinds. Students bring songs that they want to work on, and we can cover topics like harmony singing, performance issues, etc. Students bring a recording device since I don't use written music. Suzy has taught privately for over 20 years, and has been a fiddle instructor at many festivals and music camps, including Augusta Heritage Cajun-Creole and Old Time Weeks, Bluff Country Gathering, Centrum Country Blues Week, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camp,Port Townsend Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Lark In the Morning. For more about Suzy, go here: More about Suzy You can hear samples of Suzy's fiddling and singing by exploring the ericandsuzy.com website; click on one of the links at the bottom or on the side. You can also hear more of Suzy's singing and fiddling here: www.nativeandfinerecords.com/NoMockingbird/Hear.html and here: www.arhoolie.com/titles/5041.shtml |
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