Award-winning country crooner and Illinois native Suzy Bogguss is back with Sweet Danger ( Loyal Dutchess ) , a brave new collection that the singer/songwriter describes as her most challenging album yet.
Never afraid to take a new route, Sweet Danger is a fitting title for Bogguss' most recent endeavor. Sweet Danger, on which Bogguss collaborates with jazz producer and old friend Jason Miles ( Miles Davis, Luther Vandross and Sting ) , is a unique blend of country infused with jazz and blues. In addition, for the first time in a while, Bogguss said she really put a lot more emotional investment into her work. 'This was something I had to bleed a little bit more for,' she said.
Windy City Times spoke with Bogguss about revisiting her past bravery, maturity and trying new things.
Windy City Times: For this album, you worked with Jason Miles. How did that collaboration come to be?
Suzy Bogguss: Jason and I have actually been friends for a long time. It's an unlikely friendship. We have really good chemistry, although we come from completely different backgrounds—me from a cornfield in Illinois and him being a New York guy, the Woody Allen of jazz. [ Laughs ]
WCT: For you Sweet Danger is a different direction, with a lot of jazz and blues.
SB: I loved it. I loved having these amazing players putting a twist on my simple songs. I just thought it came up so original sounding, and I am just so thrilled with it.
WCT: Was it kind of scary and exciting to hear it for the first time, and realize this is a different direction for you?
SB: Yes, it was very scary at first. I couldn't fathom what we were going to try to call it. It's so awful that we have to call music something, but it's so difficult because getting the word out in mainly through print, so you end up having to describe it in some way, and it's really difficult.
… Many people are going to categorize me as country, but I don't know how many times over the course of my career people have said, 'Oh, I never listened to country music, but you are the first person who brought me into listening to country.' The truth is that it's not that cut and dry. You can't just say that this is country music, and this is not country music.
I've always been categorized that way, so it's not like I'm trying to 'break out' of country anymore. That's not my goal.
WCT: And you've always prided yourself for your refusal to be defined, and taking different roads.
SB: Yeah, I'm sure that's nothing I could take to the bank. [ Laughs ] Maybe I should have let myself be defined and not have been so hard-headed!
At the same time, it does give you a liberating feeling. Somebody said to me the other day that they got the record, put on the first song and thought, 'Oh my God, what mess has she gotten herself into this time?' [ Laughs ] In a way, that makes me laugh because sometimes I think we are so incredibly serious about the marketing of the record and the angle. C'mon. Have some fun, listen to some music and decide whether it moves you in some way.
WCT: Your attitude lends itself to having quite a gay and lesbian following. Do you think that's why you have such a diverse audience?
SB: Absolutely. I came from a little town, but there are so many things I would skate on the outside of that it doesn't even cross my mind. Maybe that just comes across. I hope that people realize that when I write a song or choose a song to sing, that I'm not singing just in a tiny, little hole of who this is. It is supposed to be broader via an emotional touch or whatever.
WCT: At what age did you know that you wanted to spend the rest of your life performing on stage?
SB: [ Laughs ] Twenty-seven. Isn't that sad? That just goes to show you what a child I am. I'm so immature. I graduated college with an art degree, and then I started running around the country on a camper truck, and just literally started seeing the world. It was just an amazing thing.
…It was fabulous. Even after my first record once I moved to Nashville, I was still digesting that free and easy life style.
…There were times where I was wondering what the hell I was doing. But now, it makes me ill to think how much more afraid you get as you get older. Then, I didn't have one boundary in the whole wide world. I have to now fight myself all the time to keep from closing myself in and being afraid of things. That's one of the reasons why I do records like this. I just go, 'Damn it, do not limit yourself like that.' When I was young, it was like I had no governor. Now, I find I keep myself from doing those things by thinking like that and telling myself I have to be more mature now. Somebody the other day said they were listening to the record, and were afraid because the content seemed more mature. Nah, I'm not that grown up yet. [ Laughs ]
…You have to always combat that complacency, and that part of you that gets fearful.
Bogguss will be playing at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn on Sept. 16. Tickets are $25, and the show starts at 8 p.m. See www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com or call 708-788-6670.
