Suzanne Brewer: Press

Weekend Review: Musical Mystery Tour
( 8. February 2010, 12:49 by Steve Dunkelberger) ~

This weekend marked a tour of musical diversity in the City of Destiny, where I hopped around from venue to venue to see the range of what Tacoma has to offer. I found depth.
The first stop of the city tour was Cork to hear Suzanne Brewer, an angelic pianist and composer who can best be described as Norah Jones with talent and an impish vibe about her. She was the perfect mood setter for the wine-and-cheese crowd as she tickled out covers and original works punctuated with witty banter along the way.
Brewer’s semi-autobiographical songwriting have been comparabled to Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and Billy Holiday for good reason. The Seattlite’s cute-as-a-box-of-puppies looks and velvety vocals mix well with jazz, piano pop and folk ballads.

http://www.exit133.com/5714/weekend-review-musical-mystery-tour

Prone to Wander captures the essence of the full creative license that goes into producing a DIY release, that which is seldom found in the major label bins. This album combines poetic songwriting and an equally elegant delivery with beautiful results. Brewer, a native Californian, writes with depth and wisdom, and the entire album presents itself as if her diary were set to music. Presented as a bit of a concept album, the liner notes state the location of each song’s conception: a Starbucks in Orange, Calif., to a bakery in Seattle. The production is light and elegantly eerie at times. Prone to Wander is a blend of many styles—folk, jazz, spiritual—all set to a mellow, funky groove. She stylistically resembles contemporaries like Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Goldfrapp and sometimes jazz legend Blossom Dearie. A jazz influence is apparent especially in the complex vocal phrasing found on tracks like “Again,” reminiscent of another contemporary, Kami Lyle. Despite these comparisons, Brewer adds a voice all her own.
-Performing Songwriter-DIY Review Issue 77

Go to this site and click on the analog obsession link.

Getting a Gig

Conquering the coffeehouse open mic

So you’ve had it with playing guitar in your bedroom. The fingertips on your chord hand are as hard and calloused as a lawyer’s heart. And your friends are tired of telling you how good you are, over and over and over.

Dude! It’s time to get a gig.

Fortunately for you, Silicon Valley has a steadily growing coffeehouse music scene offering plenty of opportunities for lofting your musical trial balloons into the public air. And an excellent first step is a little thing we call an open mic.

“Many coffeehouses run open mics, and this is where they preview artists,” says Bev Barnett, South Bay director of West Coast Songwriters (www.westcoastsongwriters.org). In addition to honing your craft with other performers, says Barnett, the open mic affords all-important networking. “Work with those new friends,” she says. “Find out if you can split a gig with them. There’s safety in numbers, and you can see how it’s done from a friend.”

Once you’re ready to try a solo gig, says Barnett, it’s important to be very clear and no-nonsense about what you’re offering.

“When you’re inquiring about a booking via email,” she says, “make it short and to the point. Put all your information in the body of the email – do not send an attachment. Instead, provide a link to where the booker can listen online, such as MySpace. Be realistic about the fact that you are just starting out. Don’t use superlatives like ‘best new singer-songwriter’ or ‘exploding on the South Bay music scene.’ Tell the booker if you can bring in an audience. If you can’t, don’t lie.”

Barnett, who’s part of a performing duo (www.barnett-newlon.com), also stresses the importance of boiling your musical style down to one sentence. “Be in control of how you describe yourself – don’t leave it up to someone else. This is the hardest sentence you will ever have to write, but it will serve you well.”

Oh, and by the way, when it comes to money? “Be grateful for your gig and accept that you can put out a tip jar,” she says, “but don’t expect to make money. Most of all, understand the economics of the venue that is hosting you. They are in business to do what? To sell coffee and sandwiches. They are hoping that you will bring more people in to buy their coffee and sandwiches. You’ll be expected to bring your own audience, and proper etiquette says that you need to compliment your host and encourage your audience to patronize the coffeehouse.”

And a few years down the line, you might get to the level of Suzanne Brewer (www.suzannebrewer.com), a Scotts Valley pianist-songwriter who’s spent most of the past six months playing coffeehouses from Vancouver to San Diego. Brewer has been gigging at local coffeehouses – including Mountain View’s Red Rock Coffee and Campbell’s Orchard Valley Coffee – for seven years.

When it comes time to approach a booker “it never hurts to have a CD,” says Brewer. “But if you don’t have that, some places will just try you out for the day.”


Brewer seconds Barnett’s suggestion on low expectations (“So many places don’t have a music budget”) and recommends similar expectations when it comes to audience attention.

“It’s frustrating sometimes,” she says. “But there are always going to be people who are there to do their thing – talking with friends, doing homework. If you’re just aware of that fact, you’ll be okay. Just keep going.”

So, let’s add this up: inattentive audiences, non-paying gigs, loud espresso machines… Is this really worth it?

“I ask myself that question many times,” says Brewer, laughing. “I think it is. At least, as a learning experience. And if you’re trying to make it a career.”

Now that we’ve given you a primer on gigs, to the right are a handful of the more active South Bay coffeehouses. Keep in mind that the coffeehouse scene is pretty volatile; policies and personnel change rapidly. So be persistent, and also keep an eye out for new coffeehouses that might be interested in starting music programs.

An entertainer as refreshing as the spring breeze is soon to perform in Gold Beach. Suzanne Brewer is a young singer-songwriter from the Santa Cruz area, where she has been sharing her talents throughout local venues for three years.
Combining her natural vocal and keyboard abilities, Brewer has crafted a unique sound that far transcends her 25 years. She has drawn inspiration from traditions as diverse as soul, jazz, folk, and even gospel, and her tunes are soothing to the ears and uplifting to the soul. Brewer's new album, "Prone to Wander," is a meditation on the restlessness of body and spirit, a thoughtful inquiry into the journey that life is.
Brewer captivates audiences of all ages with her intimate stage presence and intelligent songwriting. See and hear this bright star during her first visit to our part of the coast, at Soakers on Saturday, March 15 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available there, as well as through Savory Natural Foods and Java Spirit, at a cost of $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Please call 247-4596 for more information.
Join Suzanne Brewer for an evening of musical solace in the midst of these turbulent times.

Somewhere between the scream of a busy espresso machine and the defiant keening of several unruly children, Suzanne Brewer laid down her rich, smoky sound. Accompanying herself on the piano, Suzanne swept through several lilting melodies, including original and cover pieces that were ideally suited to the background of a dynamic environment. Most people, talking or working, probably sipped their lattes, audibly content. To watch Suzanne, however, was to be fascinated with the incongruous nature of her performance. Her voice, assertive, textured, and emotive, delivered lyrics focused on wistful or contented reflection, creating a sound reminiscent of Fiona Apple on Prozac. Are all of her songs tempered or did she nix her controversial/aggressive set our of deference to her position as provider of chill, coffeehouse soundtrack? During each song, Suzanne had no chance for audience contact as she faced the piano that stood against the wall, again emphasizing her place as background ambiance contributor. She spoke to her listeners between selections, revealing the sweetest, most benign disposition so strangely at odds with the confidence of her singing voice. Is this her true disposition or a strategic necessity adopted to field every distraction to performance imaginable? Maybe, in the Wednesdays to come (hint, hint; your chance to see Suzanne each week), she'll spontaneously burst into that assumed "other half of her set" rife with confrontational/extrospective lyric, stunning the cacophony that is Mr. Toots into an appreciative, but momentary silence.