Sue G. Wilkinson Band
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Sue G. Wilkinson Band

Decatur, Georgia, United States | INDIE

Decatur, Georgia, United States | INDIE
Band Pop Singer/Songwriter

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"London's Time Out"

"Hugely enjoyable pounding, stomping, riffing, rough-hewn, piano-driven R&B from the soulful Wilkinson, ripping it up all the way from Atlanta, Georgia." - London's Time Out


"Go Girls"

"She hits rapid-fire intros, takes improvised solos, plays like mad, and it's a pleasure, an inspiration, and a 'how does she do that?' to listen to." - Go Girls Music


"Davy MacFarlane UK's Blues Maters"

"Ana Popovic... could be fighting for space in a crowded field, given the amount of blues women around: Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, and the excellent Sue G. Wilkinson." - Davy MacFarlane UK's Blues Maters


"Atlanta's Creative Loafing"

"Sue Wilkinson has a gorgeous voice, no doubt, like some shimmering symphony of nature." - Atlanta's Creative Loafing


"Muzikman's Sound Script"

"Wilkinson still reigns queen on this brilliant project... she adapts the lush linger of Tori Amos and Kate Bush, only to rise to a level above these youngsters. The title track [Sympatico] is at once piercing yet mellow, languid yet pulse pounding, and undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous cerebral pieces I've ever heard." - Muzikman's Sound Script


"99X Sound Menu-Creative Loafing"

"...Wilkinson pounds the piano like Professor Longhair, sounds like a less frantic Janis Joplin and clearly has an affinity for classic, hard-edged R&B [more Stax/Volt than Motown]." -Justin Robertson, 6/19/00. - 99X Sound Menu-Creative Loafing


"Ginger Massey, CitySearch.com"

"Through bursts of "rockin' R&B" from her acoustic piano and soul-stimulating vocals, Wilkinson not only dissects every dirty emotion, but she wallows around in them until the fear of that emotion is erased. Of course, just when tears begin to well up in the corners of your eyes, Wilkinson throws out a song so fun and playful that you're compelled to leave the seat and groove to the beat." - Ginger Massey, CitySearch.com


"Gregory Nicoll, Southeastern Performer"

"... a breathtaking synth track where Sue Wilkinson's fine voice keeps sounding like it's gonna burst into the title theme from some '60's James Bond movie. [describing Sympatico]" - Gregory Nicoll, Southeastern Performer


Discography

LITTLE CRIMES CD
SEE ABOUT ME EP
NO Y CD / Sampler
IN THE RIGHT PLACE (Soon to be released)

I've had several tracks that have received airplay in Europe especially the UK

Photos

Bio


Musical Background & Influences
One of my first memories is of singing and tap dancing to the original version of Jim Dandy to the Rescue on the front porch of my south Georgia home. I had on my best tutu, tapping and singing away, hoping someone would notice me. But seeing that I lived on a little dirt street, and the town only had 30,000 people in it, I was lucky to see an occasional pickup truck.
My first break came when the choir director at the downtown Baptist Church "discovered" me and I began singing solo for a congregation of around five hundred - I was six years old. I felt so strange at the end of my song when I saw the church organist's tears. I wondered why that nice lady was crying. . .it was much later when I realized that music moved people emotionally.
I remember pretending to go to sleep at night with my ear pressed to the radio, listening to R&B on WGOV Radio in Valdosta, Georgia. What I remember most about those nights is crickets, no air conditioning, tossing and turning in the summer heat, and listening to long, languid improvisational R&B ballads by musicians like Aretha Franklin, Sam and Dave, and Otis Redding. My parents had volumes of classical music from the Romantic Period and show tunes which I listened to all the time. This musical exposure developed my appreciation for sweeping melodies and orchestral layers. Later my high school sweetheart, who played trumpet with the marching band, turned me onto the great jazz vocalists. I spent hours trying to sound like Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter, and was particularly influenced by Betty's straight horn-like tone. I used to sneak out of the house on weekends and play cocktail jazz at the local Holiday Inn until my parents found out. They were pretty angry until they heard through a friend that I was "behaving" myself.
My most memorable gig was at a Japanese Truck Stop. Truck Stop? That's right, I was playing in a Tokyo hotel, looking forward to the Cherry Blossom Festival, when my Japanese agents, who spoke little English, came and got me. They put me on a train which dumped me off in the Japanese countryside, far away from Tokyo. I was taken to what they called a nightclub, but was actually a Japanese truck stop, which served "Squid-on-a-stick." I wound up playing on a stage with a white grand piano. But, oh my gosh, the Grand was on a revolving circular stage which jerked every thirty or forty seconds. Made playing the piano pretty hard. Definitely one of my more interesting nights in Japan!
One of my favorite collaborators and influences is Patrick O'Hearn, film scorer, bassist, and recording artist. I've always been into ambient music and was introduced to Patrick O'Hearn by a mutual friend. Co-writing with Patrick, whom I consider a genius, is mind altering. Nobody can write a melody like Patrick. A Grammy award winner, his electronic-based instrumental music is considered to be the foundation behind the ambient musical movement, not to mention the modern synthesized orchestral sound heard in today's film scores. Patrick's collaborative and side man musical efforts looks like a who's who of American Music. The list is long, including Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Rod Stewart, Dexter Gordon, Mark Isham, Terry Bozzio, and Sam Shepard.
These days I spend more time playing with my Sue G. band in England and Scotland, with our next U.K. tour scheduled for Spring 2007.
Singing, composing and playing the piano are my gifts. I try to be grateful for them every single day because they have served me well over the years. In the same breath I can truly say that just like a relationship, I've been "through hell with them" mostly because of my own little shakey, querky brain.

There is nothing like composing a song in a matter of minutes. At these times I have no idea where the song comes from.. It seems effortless and is really an inexplicable happening. On the other hand, when I'm struggling, nothing on earth can give my tenuous ego a good whack on the backside like suffering through the growing pains of writing a crummy song. In these times I'm convinced I'm trudging the road to a really unhappy destiny. I forget all those good songs. All I can see is how little talent I truly have. Yuk, I do mean yuk.But, isn't this life, don't we beat our dramtic selves up over the silliest little things? Don't we forget our greatest blessings because we are too busy bitchin' and moanin' about life's little unpleasantries?

And then there is singing. Oh God, I've been doing this so damn long it's like a grandma baking away at her most delicious biscuits. She's pressed that dough a million times, but each batch is forever different. She loves to do it for herself and she loves to do it for those hungry biscuit lovers everywhere. Singing is my primordal love. It makes me feel powerful and special. I pray for a never ending well of tone.

And last, is playing the piano. It's my second instrument, vocals being my first