Susan Wheatley
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Susan Wheatley

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"Music is the best medicine for getting Beyond the Dover"



Since 1927, the Dover Hotel has sat on the corner of 127 Avenue and 120 Street as a watering hole for CN railway workers to unwind after their shifts. It’s also a place that evokes a lot of strong emotions in singer Susan Wheatley’s heart.

“My father was an alcoholic,” she says. “Him and his coworkers would go to the Dover after work to drink.

“Since I was a child, about three or four, the Dover Hotel has always symbolized a bad place for me,” she adds without a hint of bitterness. “But I’m over that now.”

The reason why Wheatley has been able to move on has a lot to do with her debut CD, Beyond The Dover, which will be released at the Blue Chair Café on Mar 22.

Truly a cathartic experience for the singer, Wheatley wears all of her heart on the album. From mental illness to physical abuse, Wheatley’s songs explore every corner of those dark years with her father and his addiction. The end result is an empowered woman ready to deal with the past.
“When you grow up in an addictive household with an addictive parent, you learn how to hide your feelings and suppress them,” the songwriter says. “I’ve started to deal with them and I wrote a lot of these songs to help me get over my emotions.”

But despite the darker lyrical content of her album, the charismatic and at times bubbly singer is ready to charge forward with her sincere songs and contagious optimism, explaining that she hopes that her music will encourage the healing process for people who have been in the same situation or who are going through the same experiences.

Even though she’s now a resident of Calgary, Wheatley has looked to Edmonton for more than ghosts of her childhood. She recorded her CD at Riverdale Recorders, a local studio, and also credits CKUA as a serious muse for making this record.

“It really inspired me to tell my story and get real,” she says passionately. “Some of the artists I’ve heard on CKUA taught me to be more vulnerable and lay it all out there.

“It’s kind of crazy how much I am throwing out there,” Wheatley continues, laughing. “All the songs are very personal and they’re like a diary of my life.”

The 41-year-old says it was an interesting experience going back to the Dover Hotel to do the photo shoot for the CD cover.

“Honestly, I had this sense of relief and I felt at peace,” she says quietly. “I was looking up at the sky, thinking of the old man and throwing out some love. I was telling him it’s all good.” V



Sat, Mar 22 (8:00 pm)
Susan Wheatley
Blue Chair Café, $15 (advance), $18 (door), $45 (dinner and show)
- GEN HANDLEY / gen@vueweekly.com


"*** THE BAGGAGE OF SUSAN WHEATLEY IS CHECKING OUT OF THE DOVER HOTEL ***"

Calgary Singer/Songwriter Susan Wheatley celebrates the
release of her debut CD, “Beyond The Dover”, with two Alberta
release concerts.

Saturday March 8 at 9pm
The Ironwood Stage & Grill
1429 - 9th Ave SE, Calgary, Alberta – For tickets call, 403-269-5581
and
Saturday March 22 at 8pm
The Blue Chair Café (Dinner and show package)
9624 - 76 ave, Edmonton, Alberta – For tickets c
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Susan takes her place in the Canadian Roots rock scene with her debut album, “Beyond the
Dover”. Joining Susan for her release shows are a stellar cast of some of Alberta’s finest
musicians; on lead guitar Jeff Drummond (Cam Penner), Rubim de Toledo (Bomba) on bass, Jeff
Sulima (Matt Masters, Kara Keith) on drums and Charlie Hase (Ronnie Hayward, Dave McCann)
on pedal steel guitar.

Hailing from Edmonton and Ottawa, Susan’s songs reveal her experiences like someone
discovering their favourite pair of jeans – frayed in the right places but soft, warm and supportive.
She is no songbird; rather Wheatley has a voice of a phoenix that has risen from a stormy past, a
voice that resonates like a pedal steel; her range is tender; yet, strong and throaty, always
honest.

Susan now hangs her hat in Calgary, Alberta, where she has fixed herself in the local music
scene by hosting the singer/songwriter series, “Chicks with Licks” with Heather Blush at The
Ironwood Stage & Grill. She credits the Alberta independent radio station, CKUA for shifting her
musical journey from alternative rock to folk/roots/country music with artists such as Lucinda
Williams, Mary Gauthier and Tom Russell.

Susan explores her difficult past in “Beyond the Dover” by tracing her path, which is rooted by the
Dover Hotel. This gritty blue-collared tavern that sits on the other side of the tracks in North
Edmonton, just stumbling distance from her childhood white picket fenced home, was the beacon
for this album. It was her father’s drinking hole; his refuge and his downfall. When Wheatley
returned to Edmonton years later to bury her alcoholic father’s body, she released the remaining
demons that had haunted her by writing “Beyond the Dover”. Her return confirmed that she had
ceased to blame or feel hurt towards her father and that she felt only uplifted; thus, beyond her
pain, and “Beyond the Dover”.
As Tom Wilson of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings tells it, “Susan’s writing is honest and emotionally
charged. “ Come see why.
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Discography

Beyond the Dover (2008)

Photos

Bio

Susan Wheatley’s debut CD, Beyond the Dover, is a tale about a family that must face and come to grips with mental health issues. For Susan, it is part of a journey to connect with her listeners who have similar stories. A significant part of this journey is moving towards something better, brighter than “The Dover”, a gritty Edmonton hotel symbolizing this family’s struggles.
And down this path she has found inspiration in herself, in the demons of her past and in artists like Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier. She has charmed the stage with Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and graced the recording studio with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ Tom Wilson. The Edmonton-native has shared with the world her stories on CBC Radio One, on CKUA, at the South Country Fair and at the reputable Showcase for Alberta Sessions coming up in March. She has recently found love, revelation and rhythm in a fellow musician – a relationship that is her biggest muse at the moment.

“This album is definitely a journey for me,” says Susan, who has now taken up shop in Calgary. “And I truly want to bring people along with me so we can do some healing together.”

While some adventures have a distinct look or style, the ones with Susan aren’t so simple. She has embraced her alternative and punk rock roots and painted them with alt-country and folk colors. Throw in some tales about forgiveness - all sung in words so honest you can feel them - and you have a very unique traveling partner at your side.

“But peace comes to those who forgive. Once you do then you can truly live,” sings Susan in the chorus for her song, Peace Come to Those Who Forgive. “Starting with yourself and then to everybody else, peace comes to those who forgive.

After casting her demons behind her, Susan moved to Ottawa where she sowed her vocal seeds, singing jazz and alternative rock tunes in various groups around the Canadian capital. Since then, she has returned to Alberta, settling in the city of Calgary. This is where she has truly grown as an artist and found a voice unique in the Alberta landscape.

Even though her story isn’t close to being over, Susan is content with where she is now both personally and musically.

“Life is great and life is wonderful,” says Susan, who - in the words of Iggy Pop, another artist whom she admires - has a ‘lust for life.’ “We’re all strong enough to move on from our past.”

So listen to what Susan has to say because this story has a happy ending.