Alan Cackett, Americana, Roots, Country & Bluegrass Music
Suzi Ragsdale is that rarity, a singer-songwriter actually born and raised in Nashville. She sang background vocals on her father Ray Stevens’ worldwide pop hit Everything Is Beautiful when she was six. Four years later she was writing her own songs and over the years such diverse singers as Dierks Bentley, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Lari White, Rodney Crowell, Anne Murray and Miranda Lambert have recorded her songs. An in-demand session singer, she has sung background vocals for Pam Tillis, Guy Clark, Randy Travis, Loretta Lynn, Ian Tyson, Hank Williams Jr, Darrell Scott and many more. I first came across Suzi and her music in the early 1990s when she recorded a couple of duet albums with her then-husband Verlon Thompson. A few years later came FUTURE PAST her excellent solo debut album. For a while she lived in London and I got to interview her. Following her return to Nashville she undertook a UK tour in the company of Joy Lynn White and I finally got to see how great she is in a live environment. In addition to her easy-going stage persona and distinctive way with a phrase, Suzi displayed an ability to shift between musical styles with ease.
Not fitting into a ready-made Nashville musical pigeon-hole has long been a stumbling block for Suzi. Like her famous father, she straddles musical genres. Often in one song she will take the listener through gospel, blues, rock and right back home to down-home country. That is the way it is with GHOST TOWN, her first new recording in almost ten years. Filled with vivid descriptions of particular moments of her life, as well as more general encapsulations of the uncertain feelings clouding the current landscape. The jaunty Bonfire reels you in with an infectiousness that is quite irresistible. Reflective and revealing, it's a remarkable opening to a new chapter in Suzi’s musical history as she focusses on making changes by ridding herself of all the baggage that she no longer needs as she dances around the resultant bonfire of obsolete memories. Working with British producer Sam Frank, Suzi deftly captures some complex, contemplative tones, like the haunting title-track. Weightless and otherworldly, with dreamy vocals quietly waltzing through light steel guitar, delicate mandolin and heavenly background vocals, she unfurls lingering memories, dreamscapes and the lies that we encounter as we travel through our lives.
Loved And Won is a light-hearted song that seems to float on a cloud, channelling a feel-good tone powered by the catchy reference to famous couples both real and fictional from Johnny and June through to Romeo and Juliet. Echoes of her father’s finest musical moments floated through in Live Until You Die as the lyrics deftly
clarify the beauty of the little things that make up the everyday-ness of our lives. There is a delightful delicate percussive touch with fiddle, harmonica and pedal steel all swirling around the inventive musical arrangement behind Suzi’s wry vocal. Wistful steel guitar sets the tone for album closer The Ending. Captivating, intelligent and atmospheric Suzi reflects back on her life with remarkable empathy, so tender and calm, and always with a quietly good cheer and all the wiser and confident as a result.
As understated as this album is, it is also nothing short of excellent thanks to smart, honest songwriting, gorgeous harmonies and terrific musicianship. There is also the delightful delicacy of touch in her compositions and vocal delivery that deserves attention.