Susan Elizabeth

Susan Elizabeth is a talented and exciting NYC-based, bisexual, singer/songwriter who has come a long way since her 1999 release, “Let Yourself Fall,” with former band, Paige 23. She idenifies her sound as folk/electronica and hopes to one day be compared to Imogen Heap - and in her new album, “Wine and Cigarettes,” proves that she has what it takes to earn that recognition. Elizabeth describes the release as, “All me. Stripped down, naked, bare bones me – no one else’s opinions or egos - just me,” and from our recent conversation with her – about her music, her Buddhist beliefs, and her future career – we think learning more about “me” sounds pretty great.

Cherry Grrl (CG): Your first solo album, “Wine and Cigarettes,” is coming out next month. It has been described as the soundtrack to your biography, so what are some of the things that listeners will learn about you in this release?
Susan Elizabeth (SE): You’ll learn I’m a strong person (“All Comes Down”) and a big mush (“That Girl on MTV”). I’m a quiet person, shy, and very in touch with my emotions about people and events in my life. I love my life, and I love to write about it.

CG: What are some of your favorite tracks on this album and why?
SE: Some of my favorites actually show up on the EP I’m releasing at the same time, “B-Sides and Seasides.” I’m very into electronica at the moment, so “Till the Song is Over” is one of my faves. Off “Wine and Cigarettes” would have to be “Figure it Out for Yourself.” That’s a pretty powerful song.

CG: What is your song “Reinventing Sara” about?
SE: Sara is a woman who I played music with around 10 years ago. She and I were musical soul mates. She quit her job to do music full time, but I was married at the time and couldn’t afford to do it. So she applied to law school and gave up music altogether. I never quit my job, but I never quit music and I miss her so much. She’s out in California now. I’ve been trying to replace her, but I just can’t. I always had a bit of a crush on her too, but hopefully she won’t read this so we’ll keep that our little secret.

CG: You listed Imogen Heap as a personal favorite. What other bands or solo artists are you listening to these days that you really like?
SE: Butch Walker is on my iPod right now. I like Coldplay, an indie guy named Jay Brannan, Tori Amos, Bjork, the Beatles, Eric Clapton – a whole array of names.

CG: I read that you were raised Roman Catholic but have since found Buddhism. What was it that you couldn’t relate to regarding the Roman Catholic Church and its teachings?
SE: The Catholic Church is very strict in its ways and very non-welcoming, especially toward women. Buddhism is all-embracing, and offers ways to deal with everyday life. Practical things, ways to resolve conflict, how to find happiness. Catholicism is all about guilt, and I’ve done plenty I should feel guilty for, but I’m not because I don’t believe I need to be.

CG: You identify as bisexual. What does Buddha say about homosexuality?
SE: As I mentioned, Buddha is all embracing. I haven’t read much about homosexuality in Buddhist writings, but I think as long as you live to love and serve one another, that’s ok with him. He’s a pretty bad-ass guy once you get to know him.

CG: So on a totally different note – from religion to television - you vocalized your sadness over the end of The L Word on your MySpace page. What is it that you miss the most about the show?
SE: Shane, Shane, Shane. I can’t take it. There’s only so many times I can watch the scene with her and Patricia Arquette in the pool with the strap on. I think Katherine Moennig is the most beautiful girl in the world, so I miss watching her adventures every week. Plus, coming from a very Catholic family, I felt a freedom in watching that show that I never felt before. I came to terms with my sexuality, and I love being who I am now. Jesus isn’t going to come after me with the heathen stick. The L Word was a statement, not just a show. And I want to know who gets Max’s baby. Who cares who killed Jenny.

CG: Well, they will all be missed in different ways… So, the album comes out next month – what’s after that for you? Tour?
SE: I plan to pitch my songs to film and TV because I’ve made a bit of money doing that with my earlier albums. I’d love to tour this summer, northeast coast type of thing. I’ll be playing all around New York (where I live), and I’d love to get to Philly which is a bangin’ town. And if I could play L.A., that would be sweet. We shall see. I see success ahead, no matter what form it takes.

CG: So do we.

- CherryGrrl.com

2009 is a Very Good Year for “Wine and Cigarettes”

Susan Elizabeth, An Exciting, New Talent!

by Turbo for EC Xine

There are no overnight successes. Every great musical artist spends
years, even decades honing
Like fine wine time and tide
can allow an artist a full bodied flavor and expression. Such is the
case of Susan Elizabeth.

Her style is essentially pop, while she segues into folk and
electronic. Disillusioned by the artistic confines of her former band
Paige 23, Susan has set out to follow her heartfelt, internal muse as
a solo artist. Though Paige 23 had it’s perks, Susan needed more self
expression and personal, spiritual exploration.

Susan Elizabeth released her first album, “Let Yourself Fall” with
former band Paige 23 in 2002 with ACM Records. Songs from “Let
Yourself Fall” appeared in such shows as Ed and Medium (NBC). Her song
“Run Run (Too Far From Me)” won Susan a college scholarship in 1996.
In 2005 “In Retrospect” followed on an independent label.

Since Paige 23, Susan Elizabeth has taken up her own path. This
declaration allowed Susan to heighten her personal choices and take
the reigns of her own music career.

Her new CD “Wine and Cigarettes” is an allegorical study of her
experiences both personal and spiritual. From her painful, dramatic
divorce through her renunciation of her Catholic origins being reborn
again as a Buddhist allowing her to discover her spiritual heart.
Other songs reveal her new fiance in which she found, lost then found
again.

Her style has been compared to Alanis Morissette but Susan Elizabeth
is softer, expressing more feminine honesty, as opposed to Morisette’s
scorned bitterness. Susan Elizabeth has an exquisite voice merging the
deep, artsy touches of Aimie Mann, the emotive depth of Joni Mitchell
and the playful, humanistic observations of Suzanne Vega.

Susan Elizabeth is a voice of a younger, post, post feminist
generation. Her lyrical colors and musical depth drive her far beyond
the vapid, Bush era songstresses who insisted on playing stupid.
Susan Elizabeth reclaims intelligent feminism
with unapologetic, female vulnerability.

There is always a bright side in Susan’s songs, after every storm the
rainbow emerges victorious. Susan Elizabeth’s gift of spiritual and
emotional resurrection comes across in all of her songs. “Reinventing
Sara.” T is a beautiful song dealing with the revelation of love’s
deeper meanings.

Her song “Peace” tells us more about her finding Buddhism last summer.
To me Susan Elizabeth had a spiritual awakening. She was raised a
Roman Catholic and then began to really think about finding her proper
spiritual place within this world. Spirituality and religion are not
the same thing. Seeing her spiritual path, she clearly found her way
in Buddhism. “Peace” is dedicated to Buddha and her spiritual guide
Arya Tara.

“The Excitement Before” examines fantasy and infatuation and how they
lead us mortals through the chase of the illusion. Fantasy is ever
more potent as it anticipates the reality of the actual catch.

“Wine and Cigarettes” is Susan’s autobiographical soundtrack. The honey of her mesmerizing voice will touch your heart and allow you to identify what it means to live your life, to fall, to explore, to look darkness in the face walk through fears courageously.

The payoff comes with the brightness of Susan Elizabeth’s delightful optimism and refusal to accept mediocrity. “Wine and Cigarettes” is a finely
crafted, classic, good album destined to put Susan Elizabeth on the
star map of spectacular musical artists.
- Ecxine's Blog

Susan Elizabeth is a musician, singer, and songwriter who has made her way through the music industry for many years and has finally decided to take it all into her own hands.

Susan Elizabeth entered the music scene with her old band Paige23 over nine years ago and accomplished much with her band before she decided to start her solo career. Paige23’s first album, “Let Yourself Fall,” was released under ACM Records in 2002. Songs from the album were featured on shows such as “Ed” and “Medium,” and in 1996 Susan won a college scholarship for her song “Run Run (Too Far From Me).” In 2005 the band independently released their second album, “In Retrospect,” and decided to split shortly after. Susan wanted to continue with her own music and experiment with different styles.

Susan Elizabeth is a breath of fresh air, truth and reality. The passion in Susan’s music makes it possible for her fans to just listen to her play and instantly feel connected to not only the music, but to the person behind the guitar. “Wine and Cigarettes,” is by far Susan’s most personal project to date. It is a chronicle of her life leading us through her finding of Buddhism, her marriage/divorce, her dating life after the divorce and finally discovering her new fiancé, losing him and finding him again.

Her style can be compared with Alanis Morissette although Susan Elizabeth comes across a lot softer; not necessarily in her music but definitely in her lyrics. While Alanis Morissette went from bitter and angry divorcee (“Jagged Little Pill”) to overly thankful followed by a quick jump to frighteningly positive, Susan Elizabeth’s heartfelt, thoughtful and playful energy comes across in all of her songs/albums. Think of Anouk’s ballads on the album “Urban Solitude” and you are just another step closer to understanding Susan’s music; the song “Michel” takes Anouk way back to when she first met her soul mate Michel, similar to Susan’s story with “Reinventing Sara.”

The song “Peace” tells us more about her finding Buddhism last summer, an experience she found both enlightening and soothing. Susan was raised Roman Catholic, yet due to various personal reasons and the public scandals the naughty priests of nowadays found themselves in the middle of, she drifted further and further away from her beliefs. “Peace” is dedicated to Buddha and her spiritual guide Arya Tara.

Susan Elizabeth takes us on a painful yet educational journey with her ballads; she touches upon everything from the loss of a soul mate to the ironies in life such as explained in the song “The Excitement Before.” “Many things in life are just all about the excitement before it happens rather than the joy of the actual ‘thing’ you’re chasing after,” Susan explains.

And we all know what she’s talking about; it could be that Latin lover you’ve been eyeing up for weeks on end and once you’ve felt the brush of his tongue you realize your dog’s tonguing techniques are better than his and all excitement is lost. C’est la Vie.

C’est la Vie…an attitude Susan seems to have adopted and turned into a free spirited outlook on life.

There is no need to sit down with Susan Elizabeth in order to get to know her; just wait for her to pick up that guitar and let the melodies lead you closer to her thoughts and persona. “Wine and Cigarettes” is the soundtrack to her biography and it can be to yours for all the various aspects in life you enjoy; be it the same amount of smokes you enjoy while listening in, or a lazy day in the sun with her voice mesmerizing you in the background. Either way, this sparkling senorita will not disappoint you.

Who were your musical influences?

My father raised me on the Beatles, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers, and the Eagles. Since I was born in 1978, and the Beatles had dissolved by then, I also grew up on their solo albums. As I grew older, Madonna was queen of all music for me until I discovered the acoustic guitar. Sarah McLachlan influenced me quite a bit with her songwriting on “Fumbling Towards Ecstacy”, as well as Shawn Colvin’s “Fat City.” Then Ani Difranco’s “Not a Pretty Girl” fell into my lap and I was like, whoa, what is this?? I’ve been a fan ever since. Now I’m listening to more electronica like Imogen Heap and Nine Inch Nails. I love electronic music and the noises they use to produce music.

What do you want people to get from your music?

Freedom. Freedom to feel, to love, to get in touch with their deepest emotions. I always said my ultimate goal as an artist would be to have someone use my lyrics in a love letter to someone. I’m currently writing my next album which tackles my bisexuality, so I hope people find some freedom in those lyrics as well.

What do you think you bring to music that others do not?

I think we all, as a musical community, signed or unsigned, bring something to the table that changes the musical world in some way or another. I think my uniqueness lies in my combination of folk, pop, and electronica. Have others done that? Sure they have. But at this time in the field of music, perhaps my lyrics and arrangments are just a little different than everyone else’s.

What do you want to be doing 5 years from now?

I would love to be writing music for film or tv. I’ve never really liked performing; I’m a studio rat to be honest. I love the mixing board and the effects and the arranging and the producing. That’s my passion. So if I can sell my songs, possibly even a theme song to a tv show (fingers crossed!), and make money off of my music, I would be happy. I don’t need to tour or be a famous rock star. I want to be known as a songwriter, someone innovative who is not afraid to push boundaries.

I’ll be playing Freddy’s Back Room on December 12th at 9 pm
485 Dean St
Brooklyn, NY 11217-2114
(718) 622-7035

- Skope Magazine