Radio Support

 

Folk Sampler                          Syndicated to 100 Stations in 27 states 

KXCI                                        Tucson, AZ

KPFZ                                        Lakeport, CA

KVMR                                      Nevada City, CA

Voice of Sacramento              Sacramento, CA

KZSC                                       Santa Cruz, CA

KCSS                                      Turlock, CA

WPKN                                      Bridgeport, CT

WMNR                                     Monroe, CT

WKZE                                      Sharon, CT

WSHU                                     Fairfield, CT

WWUH                                    W. Hartford, CT

KGNU                                      Boulder, CO

KDNK                                      Carbondale, CO

KRFC                                      Fort Collins, CO

KVNF                                      Paonia, CO

WVUD                                     Newark, DE

CountryBear.com                   Internet Radio

Radioio.com                           Internet Radio

WMNF                                    Tampa, FL

WRFG                                     Atlanta, GA

WJJC                                      Commerce, GA

WEFT                                     Champaign, IL

WWHP                                    Farmer City, IL

KANU                                      Lawrence, KS

WMKY/MSPR                          Morehead, KY

WMMT                                    Whitesburg, KY

WHAY                                     Whitley City, KY

WUMB                                    Boston, MA

WMFO                                    Medford, MA

WOMR                                    Provincetown, MA

FolkImage                             Shirley, MA

WCUW                                   Worcester, MA

WICN                                     Worcester, MA

WERU                                     East Orland, ME

WXOU                                    Rochester, MI

KAXE                                     Grand Rapids, MN

KFAI                                      Minneapolis, MN

KCMP                                    St. Paul, MN (Minnesota Public Radio)

WUSM                                   Hattiesburg, MS

WDVR                                    Sergeantsville, NJ

KSFR                                     Santa Fe, NM

WSKG                                    Binghamton, NY

WXPK                                    Briarcliff, NY

WFUV                                     Bronx, NY

WRUB                                     Buffalo, NY

WTBQ                                     Florida, NY

WJFF                                     Jeffersonville, NY

Radio Crystal Blue.com         Internet Radio

WVKR                                    Poughkeepsie, NY

WRUR                                    Rochester, NY

WSPN                                    Saratoga Springs, NY

WAER                                    Syracuse, NY

WXXE                                    Syracuse, NY

Online Folk Festival               Internet Radio

WDIY                                      Bethlehem, PA

WYEP                                     Pittsburgh, PA

WSYC                                    Shippensburg, PA

WVIA                                     Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA

WVYA                                     Williamsport, PA

WRIU                                      Kingston, RI

KPFT                                      Houston, TX

KZMU                                      Moab, UT

Twangcast.com                      Internet Radio

WMRY                                    Charlottesville, VA

WMLU                                    Farmville, VA

WMRA                                    Harrisonburg, VA

WCHG                                    Hot Springs, VA

WMRL                                    Lexington, VA

WVLS                                    Monterey, VA

WCVE                                    Richmond, VA

WYOU                                    Virginia Beach, VA

KBCS                                     Bellevue, WA

WVMR                                    Frost, WV

 

 

"Chicory Blue" featured on Stage 73 of NPR's All Songs Considered Open Mic.  www.npr.org/programs/asc/openmic

 

 

 

 

ON THE BEAT

The Gazette, Croton-on-Hudson, NY

November 23, 2005

By Thomas Staudter

 

 

The singer-songwriter scene here in the suburbs north of New York City has attracted so many practitioners in the past decade that the murmurs of there being a "Hudson Valley sound" are starting to be heard.

 

Here they strum: in coffeehouses, natch, but also in bars and restaurants, libraries and muse­ums, social halls at places of worship and concert halls in venues of all sizes. With dozens of carefully wrought, hard-won songs they know by heart or a repertoire of just a few originals and covers, the crowd of folk-centric musical artists working regularly around these parts (and farther afield) offer plenty of entertainment and enjoyment practically every night of the week.

 

The humblest of these tuneful soirees-"open mic night" performances-are cropping up continuously, in every comer of the county it seems, and attracting a spectrum of talents, some on the cusp of strong regional popularity, all of them ready to win over the intrepid hearts in attendance who are unwilling to surrender to the cultural imperative of television.

 

Dollar for dollar, plugging into this scene is the best way to feed your soul. The growing presence of teenagers and young adults at the gigs (which are, for the most part, caffeine-charged), underlines the idea that, as the words go, "something is happening here." It's community building in its purest form, exciting and inspiring, welcoming and inclusive, a true reflection of who we are and how we're faring in this world.

 

Susan Kane comes from the middle-aged caucus of singer-songwriters presently lifting the Valhalla, NY-based Tribes Hill folk music collective, which has spearheaded the singer songwriter scene around Westchester County since the late 1990s, to national prominence (and thus helping to establish the "Hudson Valley sound"). Listening to her debut album, So Long, released in August 2004, it's obvious that she possesses sterling gifts as a vocalist and songwriter, her country-flavored sound a fitting match for the heartfelt declarations and touching narratives that comprise her lyrics.

 

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Kane nonetheless has the mature poise of a music biz vet, and that's part of her allure, undoubtedly, to boomers with lots on their minds. That said, then, music fans who know the digital bits of their Lucinda Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter CDs through-and-through will want to check out Kane. Plus, she's got a local's perspective, too, and that gives her artistry extra credence in the wilds of suburbia.

 

Kane had just returned from the North East Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference held last weekend at the Kutsher's resort in the Catskills when I caught up to her by phone at her home on the border between Mount Kisco and Bedford Hills. We'd met a number of times over the years, usually at Tribes Hill gatherings, and while she's been hard at work trying to push her musical career I've always been impressed by her unflagging support for all the other singer-songwriters working in the area--checking out their gigs, helping out with their CDs at the merchandise tables when no one else will, lending glorious harmonies to tunes whenever asked. NERFA stands as a big deal for singer-songwriters, as it connects them with radio programmers and concert booking agents. A lot of the musical showcases don't begin until 2 a.m., and then there are informal "song swaps" throughout the resort in different performers’ rooms that last until dawn.  “Forget nerves—the hardest part about being at NERFA is staying awake,” joked Kane.

 

So Long met with decent success for a debut album released independently. Over 80 radio stations nationwide picked up on it, not including some syndicated programs that reached listeners at 75 other stations, and Kane reported that the buzz hasn't died down yet. Apparently, WKZE­FM in Sharon, Conn, one of the region's top stations for Americana musical artists and acts--has just added a few of her songs to the regular playlist.

 

"When the Roots Music Report put my album on their Folk Chart, I looked at the list and saw a lot of indies like myself, but there were also names like Mark Knopfler on the chart, and that was amazing," she said.

 

Originally, Kane admitted, she was hoping to record an EP-length demo to be able to score some gigs and enter songwriting contests with. Working with guitar-ace Billy Masters in between his forays in Suzanne Vega's touring band, Kane cut a handful of songs, "but Billy thought they were pretty good and suggested I write a few others," she said. 

 

Some of the songs Kane first recorded for So Long, like "Chicory Blue" and "Truth Will Out," contain "road" imagery, which, she maintained, was appropriate enough. "We're a nation of drivers and riders, really, and here in suburbia you spend a good deal of time in the car. So, it's a universal image, a metaphor for life, and a day-to-day experience, too."

 

Kane knows suburbia. She grew up in Waldwick, N.J., near the Paramus Mall. Her mother taught piano and her father was an aspiring actor who finally packed it in to sell insurance. When the Beatles hit America Kane asked for a guitar, and by the time she was in 7th grade she was leading her own folk music trio.

 

She studied economics at Bryn Mawr College and kept up her songwriting on the side, graduating in 1975. After a stint at the European American Bank in Manhattan she moved over to the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, teach­ing brokers and bankers in the Credit Training Program for several years before marrying and staying at home to raise three children. She continues to pay close attention to financial matters around the world, and in conversation she mentioned how easy credit has "fueled countless personal disasters and supported the growth of the U.S. economy during the past two decades," posing real ethical dilemmas for those working in the banking and credit industries. Her work also' led to factory visits around the country, "which made me glad to have a college _degree," she said, and gave her first-hand look at how globalization was changing the blue- and white-collar worlds.  Local governments, she added, "haven't yet recognized" the effects of globalization on their communities and probably won't either "until it's too late."

 

All this from a Grateful Dead fan. As her kids got older Kane started to feel the itch of performing music again. She helped start a Dead cover band, August West (named for the narrator in "Wharf Rat;' one of the group's lugubrious tunes, sung by Jerry Garcia), in 1998, and then worked in another outfit, Bad Dog, that featured some of her original songs.  Coaxed into the singer-songwriter genre by her friend Sloan Wainwright, she has been a regular at Tribes Hill and the open mic scene for the past three years, gradually emerging as an artist with a sizable collection of arresting songs and a shimmering voice that can carry country ballads and rockers alike.

 

Kane mentioned being inspired by the example of Mary Gauthier, another singer-songwriter who "got into this game later in life;' but expressed no regrets for the roads she's taken.”You do what you do," she said, "and don't look back if you can help it. I don't view my corporate life as a sidetrack I shouldn't have been on. For now, it's great to be doing something new and challenging. I have a lifetime to draw on for my songwriting, and I'm making the kind of music where you don't need a stylist to find an audience."