A week ago tonight, I made the three hour drive to Massillon, Ohio to see Susan Werner at the Massillon Museum. The venue was a nice little art gallery. It was interesting to browse through it and see the local collection. The concert was in the first floor gallery where they had just cleared a section and set up chairs. I’m glad I wasn’t any farther back than the fourth row, because it was difficult enough to see Susan through the heads in front of me. There were probably 60-70 people there.
This was the fourth time I’ve seen Susan in concert. She absolutely amazes me every time. Her humor, wittiness, and talent puts me in a state of awe every time I see her perform live. When she began the show by singing the beginning of “(Why Is Your) Heaven So Small” a capella, it gave me chills because it sounded so good. After she sang it, she dedicated the song to Mike Huckabee and the crowd got a good laugh out of that.
After performing all the songs from her latest album, The Gospel Truth, there was an intermission for people to get their wine refills and browse the galleries. I’m glad she did all of the songs from her current album, as I missed them last time when she was in Ohio because I got the show late. This album is best described as an agnostic gospel album. It’s filled with the doubt and questioning that I quite often feel, but also hope and the gospel-sounding music that I enjoy.
I have previously uploaded songs from a few of her albums. You can find them here. After the intermission, she performed a lot of her older songs, including Time Between Trains, May I Suggest, Barbed Wire Boys, Big Car, Chicago Any Day, Stay On Your Side of Town, I Can’t Be New, Philanthropy, and Movie Of My Life. There were also two other songs that I think are fairly new “I Have Debt” and “Accustomed To Her Face”.
Here are a few of the photos I was able to take between the heads in front of me:
If you have a few minutes to spare or you’re trying to procrastinate
doing something productive, check out these videos on youtube:
Then there's some fun videos on youtube that are good too: Susan and Trina Hamlin rehearse in a truck and how to scramble eggs.
Unfortunately your first links don't work :(
I wanted to read about this woman. Who is she?
Posted by: Ullman | 02/26/2008 at 10:08 AM
I fixed the link to Susan Werner's website, but here it is again just in case: http://www.susanwerner.com/
Just last week, Susan won the Contemporary Artist award at the Folk Alliance Conference. She is a great singer/songwriter who has smart, witty, funny, and strong lyrics. Check her out!
Posted by: -Lisa | 02/26/2008 at 11:08 PM