Thursday night it was my privilege to attend Suzy Bogguss' concert at Wasatch High in Heber City, Utah as part of their annual Cowboy Poetry event. I talked a bit about Suzy in an earlier post and mentioned having seen her play several times. I've gotta tell you, this was the best Suzy concert ever! She was in fine voice but even more important was the chemistry between her and the band, which consisted of Suzy on guitar, Pat Bergeson on lead guitar/harmonica and Charlie Chadwick on string bass. I've enjoyed Pat's playing in the past. He's been her guitarist for many years and as she explained, came her way on recommendation of Chet Atkins. Pat has always played electric guitar when I've seen them before, but this time he stayed acoustic, thus the arrangements on her standard numbers weren't quite the same as before. For a good example of Pat's electric guitar work, check out Alison Krauss' album "Forget About It". He was married to her at the time and he and Jerry Douglas dominate the instrumental work on that recording. Excellent stuff! In the past he's been pretty business-like in his band work with Suzy and didn't have much to say. This time he was much more outgoing. Maybe it was the addition of Charlie that made the difference. Whatever, they were a lively group and seemed genuinely pleased to be together. Also, Pat's delightful harmonica chops played an important role this night. My friend Ed thought Charlie was the best bass player he'd ever heard. I was wishing I'd written down the set list, but I'll give a good effort to highlight what I remember. They got off to a "flying start" with Nancy Griffith's "Outbound Plane", followed by Cheryl Wheeler's "Aces". both big hits from Suzy's radio days, but like many of her songs, not the work of Nashville regulars. I guess that's what drew me to Suzy in the first place. She's always flown a little left of center. The next number was Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone". Surely not his best known song, but a good'n. It's one she included on her Chet Atkins collaboration album, "Simpatico". As an intro to the song, she talked a bit about Chet and his dry sense of humor, explaining that one of his favorite things to say while playing was "pick the Chet out of it Atkins!". You'll hear that on their album. Chet was a huge proponent of Suzy, praising her talent for hitting a note right on. He hated singers who "sneak up on a note". Now here's where my memory starts to fail me, but I'm thinking the next song was "Night Rider's Lament". It's a delightful piece, which even though written in the '70s is now a cowboy classic. So fitting for the setting that evening and the first example of Suzy's expert yodeling. The crowd really fell in love with her at that point (if they weren't already!). The audience, BTW, was a large one. A full house. She got into songs from her new album with "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" wherein Suzy used her lately acquired instrumental talent on the Jew's Harp. Another number from the new album was "Careless Love" done in a very bluesy style. It featured Pat wailing on the harmonic and Charlie getting a blues drenched bass solo, both were received with delight by the crowd. Suzy also had Pat do a stand alone harmonica solo where he really cut loose bending notes all over the place. I had no clue he was so talented on that instrument. A word needs to be said about Charlie's bass. It folds! The neck hinges back into an opening in the body for travel purposes. This is his own invention and I presume from what was said that he markets them. Packing a bass around must be a pain. He may be on to something! Suzy did a rendition of "Wildwood Flower" that she claims to be true to the original. The protagonist in this version is no shrinking violet! According to Suzy songs morph over the years and this one as made famous by mother Maybelle Carter had the girl in the song becoming more of a victim than in the original version. Suzy likes the original much better! I certainly agreed with her Thursday night! There were a couple of omissions from the set. I wasn't surprised to not hear "Drive South" due to the venue, but was surprised after listening to the new album next day that "Get Along Little Dogies" wasn't in the set. That's a natural for a cowboy event! Maybe next year. I wrote the contact people for the event thanking them for the great night and encouraging them to bring her back again next year. This is the second year she's been there, so maybe a tradition is in the making anyway. I can hope! I wasn't surprised to hear "Someday Soon" and "Letting Go', as both are Suzy staples. I was surprised that she included "Hey Cinderella". Not exactly a cowboy classic, but certainly one of Suzy's. BTW she co-wrote that one with Matraca Berg, an artist I saw earlier this year at Sundance. It was only appropriate that she end the show yodeling her way through Patsy Montana's "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart". That's been in her repertoire from the beginning and is always a pleaser. So fitting for Heber City! She was given a well deserved standing ovation. This wasn't your typical obligatory ovation but very spontaneous and enthusiastic. She and the band came back for an encore with a "Red River Valley" sing along. She was truly loved and deservedly so. I told people there including my neighbor Ed that they were very fortunate to have been to that concert. As I said earlier, I've never seen her in better form. She and the band were smokin'! I told Suzy the same during the meet and greet. She credited the band. Typical Suzy. Here's a shot of me talking to Suzy. Thanks to friends Dave and Nancy for the photo!
Just a bit about the new album, as the name implies, it's a collection of traditional folk songs. Suzy's applied her own arrangements and with the help of expert players, has come up with a beautiful work. I seem to be in a rut calling new albums from several of my favorite artist their best yet, but here I go again! Considering how large a catalog Suzy has, that's saying something, but I believe it's true. It shows what's possible with public domain music. it's great and it has a generous 17 tracks! I don't know how Grammys work, but this one is worthy. I hope those who make such decisions realize the same. I'm giving it 5 stars!
