Suzy Bogguss had a revelation on stage with Garrison Keillor in 2008. Everyone loves tosing along on “Red River Valley” – except the children who somehow don't know the song. Folk songs are the scrapbook of the American experience, but as music education fades from our public schools, she worried; these beautiful melodies are in danger of being overlooked. She resolved to record these timeless songs in an updated but reverent way – so that everyone can sing along on “Red River Valley.”
And who better than the golden throated Suzy?
The platinum selling songstress alreadyhad a full bookshelf of Grammy and CMA awards and now with the release of American Folk Songbook she can put her own book up there too. The CD and companion Songbook was released in the summer of 2011.
Northwest Kansans can hear Suzy at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday October 6th in Oakley, Kansas at the Oakley High School Auditorium. Admission is by season ticket or individual ticket at the door.
In additional to the many WPAA businesses, individual sponsors, and the Logan County Community Foundation.
The Dane. Hansen Foundation is a major contributor. “Music has always been my purest joy even as a child,” Suzy writes. “One of my favorite memories is my grade-school music teacher pounding on the piano and leading the class in rousing renditions of folk songs from all around the world.”Bogguss is originally from Aledo, Illinois. Her dad was a machinist for International Harvester and her mother is a retired secretary who taught Suzy at an early age to read vocal music. She has three older siblings. Married to songwriter Doug Crider, the couple has one child, Ben.
Suzy joined the church choir at age five and began to play the piano at the urging of her musical mother. When her older siblings began playing the drums, Suzy followed suit and continued this musical course through high school. As a teenager, she added the guitar to her repertoire and bought her first 12-string with the money she earned frombaby-sitting. Though she sang in musicals and other school groups, it never occurred to her that her future was on stage.
Her songs have been heard on television shows and in commercials. She has performed on many national television shows including: In Performance At The White House (PBS), A Capitol 4th (PBS), Austin City Limits, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live With Regis And Kelly, and The View. Suzy is a frequent guest on National Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion with Keillor. Come join us to enjoy Suzy again as she returns to in Western Kansas.