SUSIE GLAZE SHAUN CROMWELL
Saturday, December 4, 2010 – 8:00pm
Broadway actress and singer, award-winning recording artist and critically-acclaimed Bluegrass powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called by BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED “…an important voice on the California Bluegrass scene.” A native Tennessean, Susie grew up in the shadow of the Grand Ole Opry, learning the craft of country and bluegrass from a short distance by regular immersion of Flatt & Scruggs, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn among others. When just 16 she sang for her brother Rick’s writer’s nights song showcases in Nashville.
New York audiences saw Susie’s Broadway debut when she played the role of the young Southern matriarch Mary Jane Wilkes in the original Broadway company of Roger Miller’s musical play “Big River.” During her two years with that company, Susie began researching the works of the pioneering artists who developed country, folk and bluegrass music from the early years in America and was led inevitably to the work of The Stanley Brothers, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and Jean Ritchie among others. After relocating to Southern California and joining the bluegrass group The Eight Hand String Band, Susie debuted as a recording artist with the group’s 2000 release The Simple Truth and was the winner of the Los Angeles 1999 Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival for Traditional Singing. In 2002, Susie’s debut solo CD “Home On the Hill” reaped praise from Sing Out! and Bluegrass Unlimited magazines. The following year Susie appeared alongside Jean Ritchie at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum’s White River Folk Festival, and in 2004 Susie premiered her new concert piece The Appalachian Songs of Jean Ritchie at Southern California music festivals. The year 2003 also saw the formation of The Hilonesome Band with Susie and her husband, mandolinist Steve Rankin, to debut and showcase the work of Santa Clarita songwriter Rob Carlson. Susie’s second solo CD Blue Eyed Darlin’ was released in July 2005 to praise from Bluegrass Unlimited and Folkworks magazines (their top Bluegrass Album of 2005), and won her the Just Plain Folks 2006 Music Award for Best Roots Album. Her concert/theatre piece: Singing the Moon Up: The Voice of Jean Ritchie was a critical success in its debut at The Pennsylvania Centre Stage Company at Penn State University in September 2005, and the live soundtrack album of that piece was released in June 2007. The new release Green Kentucky Blues produced by Bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis, was released in May 2008 to critical acclaim, featuring Bluegrass stars Herb Pedersen, Tom Rozum, Laurie Lewis and Dennis Caplinger.
Susie Glaze, guitar, autoharp, mountain dulcimer
Steve Rankin, mandolin/guitar
Rob Carlson, lead guitar
Rodger Phillips, banjo
Fred Sanders, bass
Ron Sutton, dobro
Shaun Cromwell has the unmistakable sound of someone who has put in the time and the heart, someone who has truly got inside the music. – Peter Mulvey: Singer-Songwriter
At the 2008 Folk Alliance Region West Conference, I overheard someone say… “Who needs three guitarists when you’ve got Shaun Cromwell”. And oh that voice! Metaphorically speaking… if there is an original first seed from which Roots Music blossomed, it currently resides in the heart, mind, soul, fingers and voice of the rhythmically intuitive world of Shaun Cromwell. To watch and hear him play is to view a Medium absorbed in the trance of conjuring the melodic essence of Mississipi John Hurt, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal to name a few. Cromwell delivers music with the Titan passion Prometheus reserved for fire! – Henry Hallett: Host ‘Simple Folk’ KXCI 91.3 FM, Tucson
Shaun Cromwell’s soul is based in the roots of the blues and the dawn of Americana. His masterful guitar playing demonstrates his ability and his original music confirms his devotion to the medium. I love this guy. – Betsi Meissner (Amazing Grace): ‘Acoustic Alternative’ KXCI 91.3 FM, Tucson
CTMS Center for Folk Music
6953 Ventura Blvd., Encino
818-817-7756
Presented by Paniolo Productions