Susan Greenbaum has committed the first sin of musicians: She quit her day job. After working as a corporate executive in Fortune 500 companies, Susan traded her power suits for performing. She has been singing as long as she's been speaking, growing up in Kansas City, in college at Harvard, and in Boston and Richmond, VA. And now her tax return, under "Occupation," reads, "Singer-songwriter."
Susan Greenbaum has a diverse CD collection, and her varied tastes in music are reflected in her own writing. Influenced heavily by the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Sheryl Crow, Pat Metheny, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Annie Lennox, Sting and other artists for whom lyrics and melodies matter, Susan writes and performs across a range of genres that all fit comfortably under the acoustic rock/pop umbrella. You'll hear blues-tinged tunes followed by intelligent pop, or folk-flavored story songs followed by driving rock that can provide anything from social commentary to a break-up saga.
Susan released her third independent CD, "Hey, Hey, Hey!" in September, 2002, and it has received rave reviews in a wide range of publications. The disc, which Susan co-produced with John Morand of Sound of Music Studios, is a 13-song collection of intelligent lyrics, beautiful melodies, catchy hooks, emotional ballads, and always Susan's mellifluous and versatile voice. This voice, which expresses every range of emotion with amazing control across several octaves, may roar with power or shudder with fragility, depending on the song. But within every song and performance are the artist's sincerely and boundless energy. "Everything but You," track 4, received a glowing review in Billboard Magazine and was added to commercial radio station WMXB-103.7 FM, receiving 46 spins/week for several months.
Prior to "Hey, Hey, Hey!" Susan released "Wake Up!" in 1999, receiving Finalist awards in both the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and the U.S.A. Songwriting Contest for two songs on her second disc. "Wake Up!" was the logical follow-up to her mostly acoustic debut recording, "Actual Size," which came out in 1997; that disc, recorded in Boston, introduced listeners to Susan's unique voice and distinctive writing style, inviting listeners to enjoy humor, sorrow, anger, joy, and above all, honesty, all in one CD. Susan extends this invitation to listeners who will find such range in all three of her CDs and can follow her growth as a songwriter and performer.
You will find Susan Greenbaum's songs all over the charts at MP3.com, where she is one of the site's most popular artists, famous or unknown. She has had over 159,000 downloads of her songs there, with frequent placement in the top 10 of the Acoustic Rock chart; her song, "One More Angel" (from "Actual Size"), was #1 there for over two months. That same song appears on the Million Mom March compilation CD alongside recordings by Ani Difranco, Emmylou Harris and Shawn Colvin.
Susan is one of the most popular acts in the mid-Atlantic region, drawing big, enthusiastic audiences who delight in her lively, diverse and powerful performances. Thanks to the internet, she has fans on every continent and hopes to expand her touring geography. She performs solo and with her band, at esteemed venues like The Birchmere, the Rams Head Tavern, and The Bottom Line in New York City. Her credits include performing an acoustic set with Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley; sharing bills with Jill Sobule and Beth Hart; and opening for Patty Griffin, Dar Williams, Janis Ian, Todd Snider, Tuck and Patti, Iris DeMent, Lucy Kaplansky, Jeffrey Gaines, Lloyd Cole and Three Dog Night. Susan also has an endorsement from W.L Gore's Elixir Strings. The most frequently heard comment at her gigs is, "Great songs--and how does all that big, beautiful sound come out of someone under five feet tall?" Find out for yourself at www.susangreenbaum.com.
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