Musical Influences Shawn Colvin, Indigo Girls, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant, Michelle Shocked

Similar Artists Shawn Colvin, Dixie Chicks, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls

Artist History I was born on a blustery January 25th, 1972 in Fridley Minnesota. The worst fight in professional basketball history also occurred that day and my parents watched it on TV while eating turkey sandwiches just hours after I was born. I think that’s what gives me my edge...or maybe my height, or unnatural dependency on turkey sandwiches. Fast forward through fifteen years of church and school choir experience, to my introduction into playing folk music (dream sequence and fade into my senior year in high school). I auditioned for my senior talent show and made the cut. My mother was going to accompany me on the piano while I sang a rousing rendition of Depeche Mode's 'Somebody'. One week prior to my big debut, my choir teacher notifies me that my mother can't play in the show since it's a student show. Much to my chagrin, my mother would not enroll in classes in Amarillo High, but this was my last chance to reveal my true rock star status to all my classmates. If I missed this opportunity, none of those people from high school would be able to say 'they knew me when' when I really got big and famous. I learned my first lesson of the live gig...'the show must go on' even when you are not sure what the show is going to be. My friend, Bob Merkett, taught me to play "Gypsy" by Suzanne Vega and I played it at the talent show. I think people wept...anyway, I was hooked and continued to learn the entire catalogues of Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin, basically emulating female songwriters that I really respected. I began writing myself after I got more comfortable on the guitar. I played solo and with an acoustic kid (Gary Thomason, who later became the guitarist for the Groobees) around Amarillo. I think he actually had 'the acoustic kid' hand-tooled in leather on his belt. In the fall of 1992, I moved up to Missoula, Montana to attend the Forestry School. It was that move that prompted the writing of "Wide Open Spaces". I dropped out of college about a year and a half after going up there (although it was probably another two semesters before I broke the news to my folks and my Student Loan evaluation Board). I discovered a gem called the 'open mic' and it spoke to me so much clearer than the dreaded 'calculus class'. I gradually would make friends with folks who had gigs at the open mic, and then go to their gig and ask to play their break so I could audition for my own gig and maybe score a beer. That held me for about a year. In the spring of 1996, my nephew, Grant, was born and I moved back down to Amarillo to nanny while my sister finished out her school year. It was during that time that I started singing with the Groobees on a weekly basis. I decided to move back to Amarillo to give this band thing a chance, and it became a five year roller coaster ride that included opening shows for Joe Ely, James McMurtry, the Beach Boys & at the Tarlton State University Salad Bar; the Dixie Chicks recording and performing my song and all of the incredible opportunities that came with that (especially that-all-you-can-eat salad bar thing). In May of 2001, the Groobees called an end to their collaborative effort in order to pursue some individual projects. That brings us up to date...I wonder if the next 10 years will condense down so easily?

Instruments Acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, Banjo, Mandolin

Press Reviews "...Susan's singing possesses a newfound confidence...The songs are there, and the plaudits will undoubtedly come." -Arthur Wood, Country Music People; "...Susan Gibson has a voice that recalls blue skies and amber waves of grain." -Gavin Americana; "...(Susan) could have easily made a career out of pitching songs to other popular singers..." -Chris Riemenschneider, The Austin American-Stateman; "(Susan) has an endearing enthusiasm and unaffected stage presence that's all about her knowing her art and doing 200 (mostly road) dates a year." -Doug Hill, The Norman Transcript; "...Ms. Gibson...possesses clear, crisp, bold pipes. Her vocals have a rough edge that is tempered by a potent sense of melody. When she sings, you can see her body surge with energy. She's pulsating with every word." -Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News; "Gibson's lyrics are as personal and...introspective as any in music today, but her delivery is ballsy, so to speak, and woe-is-me-free." -John Nova Lomax, HoustonPress.com; --Live show review: "Gibson was an independent but never strident presence, radiating a bonhomie both on and off the stage and playing, at various times, guitar and banjo in addition to singing both lead and backup vocals." -John Wooley, Tulsa World

Location Amarillo, Texas - USA

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