Album Notes

Born Stephen Lawrence Suffet in 1947, Steve Suffet is best described as an old fashioned folk singer in the People's Music tradition. His repertoire is a mixture of railroad songs, trucker songs, union songs, old time country music, blues, ragtime, Gospel, topical-political songs, and whatever else tickles his fancy. He takes songs from whatever sources he wishes and then he sings them his own way, maybe rewriting the lyrics on the spot or changing the music to fit his own particular style.

Heavily involved in the antiwar movement in the 1960s, Steve appeared at several of the legendary Broadside magazine hoots in New York City. Steve later left the organized folk scene for nearly thirty years, playing instead at political rallies and demonstrations, campgrounds, schools, day care centers, weddings, parks, pubs, and pick-up jam sessions.

Steve returned to the folk scene when invited to perform at a Sis Cunningham Tribute Concert in 1997. Since then he has played gigs all around the New York metro area. In addition, Steve has performed at the New England Folk Festival in Massachusetts and the NOMAD Festival in Connecticut, and has led workshops for the People's Music Network, the New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club, the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, and the Philadelphia Folk Song Society. Steve now often performs as part of a group called MacDougal Street Rent Party, although he also continues to perform on his own as well.

"I''ve Been Up On the Mountain" is Steve's second full CD. Of its eighteen songs, four are Steve's own original individual compositions, one was written in collaboration with Joel Landy, and another was written with some help from Anne Price. The CD also contains a little known Woody Guthrie song, as well as a song by Utah Phillips. The remaining ten songs are Steve's arrangements of traditional folk songs.

Accompanying Steve on various tracks on this CD are Jody Kolodzey, Ray Korona, Joel Landy, Chris Lang, Heather Lev, Eric Levine, Bruce Markow, Anne Price, and Gina Tlamsa. All are fine musicians in their own right.