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Singer Suzy Bogguss plans to mix traditional holiday songs with offerings from her upcoming album on Sunday night.
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By MICHAEL ZITZ
Sunday evening's Suzy Bogguss concert at the Birchmere in Alexandria will be a Christmas show, but don't expect a "Silent Night."
"It'll be a party--a holiday party," and a jazzy one at that, Bogguss said this week in a telephone interview from her Tennessee home.
She described the format as "a real intimate evening," adding that the stage is being set up as a living room.
In addition to some traditional Christmas tunes, she plans to play five songs in a row from her upcoming album, "Sweet Danger," to be released in the spring.
Grammy-winner Jason Miles, who has played with Miles Davis, Sting and Luther Vandross, produced the album, which Bogguss said "is sort of Nashville meets New York."
"It's a whole different mind-set," she said. "Jason put together a band with guys from the 'Saturday Night Live' band and and 'The Tonight Show' band.
Bogguss, 49, a native of tiny Aledo, Ill., hit the big time when her 1991 album Aces spawned three Top 10 country hits, "Outbound Plane," "Aces" and "Letting Go."
In 1993, she made it to No. 2 with John Hiatt's "Drive South," then had Top 5 hits with "Just Like the Weather" and "Hey Cinderella."
But Bogguss has never really fit into the cookie-cutter mold of modern Nashville.
"This album is more about groove with a bluesy element," she said, comparing the style to Carole King and Carly Simon.
She said "In Heaven," a song from the new album that was written by her husband, Doug Crider, makes her so emotional that she "broke down and bawled" onstage at The Grand Ol' Opry while performing it.
It's a moody album, she said, because, "I wrote most of these songs [and] I'm kind of moody."
Sunday's Bogguss show will introduce new upright bass player Alana Rocklin to Birchmere fans.
"This girl kills it," Bogguss said, adding that when she heard Rocklin, she said "I have to have this girl."
To reach MICHAEL ZITZ:
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Sunday. For ticket information and directions, go to birchmere.com. |
