Suzanne Vega: A Folk Music Superstar

by Arielle Young - University of Alaska Anchorage

I walked into the Suzanne Vega show at Atwood Concert Hall on a chilly Friday night in February, with few preconceived notions of what the concert would be like. I had heard exactly one song of hers, “Tom’s Café,” which is in constant rotation on several local radio stations. I purposefully did not investigate any of her other music because it is often enjoyable to hear new songs for the first time straight from the artist’s mouth. I was not disappointed. Nor was the huge crowd that cheered endlessly for her as she made her way out on stage, a small woman diminished even further by her huge guitar. As she started to sing, however, her big voice filled the concert hall, every note perfect.

As her set went on, I noticed two distinct genres emerging in her music. There were the extreme folksy songs, slightly up-tempo and sounding radio ready. Then there were the slower love songs, such as “small blue thing” and “caramel.” These songs were both extremely beautiful and reminiscent of old-school jazz and blues. These songs especially highlighted the sultry quality of her voice and allowed her vocals to really shine. As amazing as her set of love songs was, however, I feel as though they would have been more resonating with her standing solo on stage without the accompanying bass.

Overall it was a great show, and extremely relaxing. Her voice has a very soothing timbre, and it’s easy to see why the theatre was packed. Most everyone there seemed to be around forty or older, and since she first broke into the music business about 25 years ago, many of her fans have probably been around since the beginning, which really says a lot about an artist.

Suzanne Vega
Anchorage Concert Association
Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 7:30pm
Atwood Concert Hall