Suzy Bogguss

Suzy Bogguss

Born: Susan Kay Bogguss
December 30, 1956
Birthplace: Aledo, Illinois, USA

“One of the things that I think is such a constant in country music is that the song is so much a story. I believe it is supposed to be based around a story.”

~Suzy Bogguss

Music is Her Life
Michael Holloway

Suzy Bogguss’ life and music are perhaps one of the most intriguing and sparkling facets of the country music scene. But, she has so many other unique skills and qualities, one wonders where she finds the time to hone them all.

The daughter of a machinist and a secretary (who taught Boguss to read music at an early age), Bogguss’ love for music was ignited at the age of five, when she sang in the school choir and began to play piano. Her older siblings, two brothers and a sister had taken to drums, so naturally, the youngest Bogguss also followed suit. In high school, she added guitar to her repertoire with money she earned from baby-sitting, she bought her first 12 string. In the seventh grade, she starting singing school productions and local drama groups.

“I had a solo in the seventh grade Christmas recital and I shook so badly it sounded like I had a shotgun vibrato,” Bogguss said.

The College Years
Initially, Bogguss never thought of music as a profession, despite the fact during her college years she earned much of her tuition from singing at clubs and local coffeehouses. Her first paycheck was seven dollars.

After graduating from Illinois State University in 1980 with a degree in Arts (with a specialization in metal smithery of all things), she realized her dream. From playing at out-of-town gigs and taverns Bogguss’ popularity and her paychecks increased. Several times she played for donations and used posters she had created herself to advertise her shows.

Dollywood

Bogguss moved to Nashville where she was discovered by talent scouts while singing at Dollywood. She was also discovered by musician Doug Crider whom she later married.

“The folks at Dollywood convinced me that it was a good career move by pointing out that I’d be opening shows for Dolly Parton–to an audience of 10,000,” says Bogguss.

She recorded a demo tape of her performance, which she sold at shows to raise money for more touring. This rare recording, Suzy, is unfortunately an obscurity, much sought after by fans, but extremely difficult if not impossible to track down.

Versatile Vocalisations

It certainly was a good career move for Bogguss, who released 12 albums between 1988 and 2007. Though the albums may have had varying degrees of popularity on the charts, they were successes more often than not. They are greatly loved by fans, and always show Bogguss to be at the top of her form, her songwriting (both solo and collaborative) and vocalisations are flawless in quality, and her ability to perform country, pop, soft rock, Christmas music, rockabilly, and even yodelling make her a very versatile artist.

Bogguss sums up her career as such, “I had a great tenure with Capitol, during which I weathered a lot of changes in both personnel and philosophy. From Jim Foglesong to Pat Quigley and everyone in between, I appreciate having been a part of the Capitol family. We celebrated a lot of successes together, including Grammy nominations, hit records, and platinum albums. I have a number of projects on my plate right now. This gives me the freedom to pursue those opportunities.”
Not Just a Great Voice the Woman is Funny

Another of Bogguss’ sparkling qualities is her delightful wit. In 2007, she released her twelfth studio album Sweet Danger, as well as a DVD called One Sweet Night. The DVD was primarily a live CD release party for the latest album filmed at Bogguss’ home, as well as a mini-concert performed for her guests in an informal, intimate setting.

Bogguss said, “Hi, how the heck are ya!”

With this introduction to the night’s festivities, the viewer is immediately made to feel right at home by this down-to-earth and very funny lady who can split your sides with a wisecrack and melt hearts with a beautiful song in the same breath.

“Mind if I take my shoes off? That’s good, I gotta do that,” she smiles, reassuring everyone that slouching on the couch with your shoes off is not only acceptable at this event, it is expected.

The five songs Bogguss performs are: Sweet Danger (her own composition), a cover of Peter Cetera’s If You Leave Me Now, In Heaven (written by Bogguss’ husband Doug Crider), No Good Way To Go (written by Verlon Thompson), and The Bus Ride (by Anna Wilson, Matt Rollings, and Garry Burr.)

Between songs, she sips a “sweet dangerous drink,” a blue martini.

“Matches my outfit, so happening,’ she grins.

Bogguss Does Peter Cetera

If You Leave Me Now was chosen by Bogguss after hearing her young son, Ben, while sitting in the back seat of the car was singing with Cetera on the radio. Bogguss thought it sounded so cute, she decided to record it herself someday. In 2007, she finally did so.

At one of her concerts she said, “Guess what I got? A text message from Peter Cetera! He said he wished he could have been here tonight [but was on the other side of the country at the time] and it’s hard to get here from there if you don’t have a lot of notice.”

She was Simpatico with Chet Atkins

Ben (short for Benton Charles Crider) was born in 1995, a year after after Bogguss recorded the duet album Simpatico with country legend Chet Atkins, who was also one of her oldest and dearest friends. Back in 1988, after her debut album Somewhere Between was released, Atkins had written a blurb about Bogguss which she proudly printed in the liner notes:

“I don’t like hot dogs and I don’t like anchovies. I don’t like people who say there are too many guitar players in the world, and I especially don’t like singers who sneak up on their notes. But I like Suzy Bogguss…she is always in the tone center, her voice sparkles like crystal water, and she ain’t all that bad looking boys and girls–she’s only one of the best.”

In 1994, when Simpatico was released, Atkins presented Bogguss with another personally written accolade: “This recording is the culmination of a sincere friendship that has been ongoing since I first met Suzy a few years ago – we have spent many hours visiting, playing old songs, and hanging out. We are simpatico.”

Bogguss replied with to Atkins, “I set out to make a humble record with my friend Chet Atkins. What I got was a lifetime experience. Chet, thank-you for this extraordinary opportunity. You bring out the best in me.”

Simpatico is bittersweet in many ways, not only because of the beauty of the music and the sincerity of the two central performers, but because Atkins had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer during the production of the album. Though he fought the good fight for the remainder of the decade, Atkins lost the battle with cancer in 2001.

One song from the album is especially poignant in light of the sadness, Atkins wrote a song with Bogguss and Crider, One More For The Road.
One More for the Road

As a tribute to Atkins and to honor the cherished friendship he shared with Bogguss and Crider, here are the lyrics for the song as well. If only Atkins’ friends, peers, and fans could have one more for the road with him, the music world would be even sweeter.

“Put those guitars in their cases
Put those cases on the truck
Drive that truck on to Memphis
Tune those guitars back up

What we really love is playin’
Rollin’ never slowin’ down
But tonight I feel like stayin’
I kind of like this little town

And I’m not ready to pack it up yet
If you don’t have to go
Let’s make this a night we’ll never forget
There’s time for one more one more for the road

Tonight the lights feel like heaven
Makes me want to give it all I got
That’s what I do for a livin’
Am I lucky or what

And I’m not ready to pack it up yet
If you don’t have to go
Let’s make this a night we’ll never forget
There’s time for one more one more for the road

What we really love is playin’
Rollin’ never slowin’ down
But tonight I feel like stayin’
I kind of like this little town

And I’m not ready to pack it up yet
If you don’t have to go
I’d like to stay here and pick one with Chet
There’s time for one more, one more for the road.”

Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Suzzy Boggus formed the band Wine, Women & Song

Husband Has Talent

Also appearing on Simpatico is a song called You Bring Out The Best In Me, which Bogguss and Crider wrote with composer Steve Dorff, the father of actor Stephen Dorff (who recently starred with Val Kilmer in Felon and XIII.)

As for Crider, he has also released an album of his own, Far And Away, also the name of the title song, which husband and wife wrote together. The happy couple also performed a duet on the song Goodnight Mississippi which Crider co-wrote with Billy Spencer.

In 2001, Through Your Eyes later appeared on Bogguss’ solo Christmas album, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, a collection of original tunes and updated standards. Bogguss and Crider’s other songwriting contribution was the delightful Two Step Round The Christmas Tree.

Partnerships with Women

In 1995, Bogguss contributed their original holiday song Through Your Eyes to the compilation album Mother And Child: A Christmas Celebration Of Motherhood, which also featured Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Debbi Peterson, Siobhan Maher-Kennedy, CeCe Winans, Shanice and Crystal Wilson, Olivia Newton-John, Viola and Wendy Moten, Vesta Williams, and Beth Nielsen Chapman.

Wine, Women and Song

For the last couple of years, Bogguss has been part of a popular touring trio featuring Matraca Berg and Gretchen Peters known as Wine, Women & Song.

“We had an opportunity in late October to spend five days at a friend’s cabin in Sewanee, Tenn. We each brought wine and food to cook and we holed up, wrote some serious songs, and recorded a bit, too. We decided that the ‘oh-so-live-and-unpolished’ tunes would be fit for consumption, so we will be releasing a six song EP coinciding with our Wine, Women and Song tour in the UK in May. No title as of yet, but stay tuned…,” Bogguss said.

This will be the first official recorded work by Wine, Women & Song. Hopefully, fans can look forward to more album releases by Wine, Women & Song and Bogguss as a solo performer. Or even better, a concert tour in Australia.

Bogguss fondly muses about her long and stellar career and her rich musical history, “It’s nice and light and easy, and these days we can all use some of that. It’s the kind of music I like to listen to when I’m cooking, when I’m having guests over for dinner, when I’m relaxing on my patio. That’s what this music is all about for me. It fits my lifestyle and I think it fits many of my fans’ lifestyles as well. I love going new places as an artist and I love bringing my fans on this journey with me.”

Want More Suzy?

SuzyBogguss MySpace
Suzy Bogguss New Website
Suzy Bogguss Original Website
Wine, Women & Song

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