Album Notes

"At a time when too many singers are hopping on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" bandwagon by hiring a freelance fiddler, putting a little twang in their pop voices and yowling mournfully, Susie Glaze sings forthrightly, unaffectedly, about life's travails, with a sense of musical history that suffuses every note. "Home on the Hill" is one of the rare recent albums in which the vocalist sings with restraint--because she knows that holding back can pack a big emotional wallop; because she knows her material can be most effective if it's delivered with precision, not overwrought passion; and because she's confident enough to know she can blow the roof off any joint lucky enough to book her."
--Ken Tucker, critic-at-large for "Entertainment Weekly" and rock-music critic for National Public Radio's "Fresh Air."

"Susie Glaze is a fresh young voice, strong and flexible, interpreting the variety of songs in this group with ease. And, she's a communicator, to me the most important of qualities in a singer. More personally, listening now to Susie singing out on my family's 'Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies,' the thought strikes me...how wonderful to hear this new voice taking up my songs...quite suddenly I know that, with people like this to trust, my music will go on living, and soaring. And so will I."
-- Jean Ritchie

"I especially liked the Jean Ritchie songs.....You captured the lonesome sweetness of her voice and delivery."
-- Laurie Lewis
Rounder Recording Artist

"Heavenly music sung with an ethereal voice."
-- Michael Fleming
New West Music Recording Artist

"She has the gift of telling a story through music with a voice as clear and fresh as a spring morning."
-- Terri Anderson, Curator
Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum

"One of the pleasures of 'Home On The Hill' is the facility with which Susie Glaze changes musical lanes...From mountain ballad to swing to tex-mex, the program honestly reflects Susie's personality - invitingly homey and graceful...from a personal point of view, this is the kind of voice and material I as a fiddler love to accompany. 'Brightest and Best,' the duet of voice and droney fiddle...was one of those shining one-take moments that emotionally sustain studio musicians through harsh long months of decongestant jingles."
-- Kenny Kosek
Rounder Recording Artist

About Susie Glaze:
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. Her study of the song styling of Emmylou Harris and Linda Rondstadt carried her into college years while becoming involved in musical theatre. Finally in New York, while appearing as a featured performer on Broadway in Roger Miller's musical play "Big River", there was a Bluegrass conversion! Susie began to research the works of those artists who developed country and bluegrass from the 1920s through the '40s and '50s -- musicians such as the Blue Sky Boys, the Delmore Brothers, Bill Monroe, the Carter Family, the Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson and Jean Ritchie. This music became the focus of her work, study and performances.

Now based in Los Angeles, Susie is appearing with the Eight Hand String Band, performing songs by Iris Dement, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Johnny Cash, A.P. Carter, Bill Monroe, the Blue Sky Boys, Kate Long, Jean Ritchie and traditional and ancient bluegrass standards. The band's 2000 album "Simple Truth" marked Susie's debut as a recording artist, and now with "Home On The Hill" she can share her solo work in new ways, especially with her reinterpretations of classic Jean Ritchie material from the canon of her collected mountain ballads and old-world folk tunes. On this recording Susie is ably joined by her great guest artists Kenny Kosek (of "Country Cookin'" fame, on fiddle), Bob Applebaum (Bela Fleck recording artist, on mandolin), Rick Cunha (founding member of Hearts and Flowers, on steel guitar), John "Juke" Logan (formerly of The New Grass Revival, on harmonica), Mike Witcher (young "phenom" of The Witcher Brothers Band, on resonator guitar), Dan Sankey (of The Silverado Bluegrass Band, on banjo) and Mariachi Voz de America.

Susie was the winner of the Los Angeles 1999 Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival for Traditional Singing.