Voice | Suzy Thompson | All Levels | Period 2 | Week 4 (July 27-31, 2026)
Anybody can sing the blues; you don’t have to have a great big voice! Suzy will teach repertoire from 1920s and & 1930s greats such as Victoria Spivey (who made the most of a small voice), Memphis Minnie, and Bessie Smith. We’ll work on practical things like finding the right key for your voice, finding the tempo that fits the song and your style, the subtleties of breathing and phrasing and lyric interpretation, and more personal aspects of singing the blues: emotion and personal imagery. Bring your guitar if you like; simple accompaniments will be taught. No previous blues singing experience necessary!
About the Instructor
Suzy Thompson has an unusually deep mastery of the whole gamut of Southern old-time music, from prewar acoustic blues to Louisiana Cajun-Creole to old-time fiddle tunes, especially the kind that have a ragtime or blues feel. In 2025, she has released a new album, “Suzy Sings Siebel” in which she displays her powerful skills as a song interpreter, with ten songs by the great 1970s songwriter Paul Siebel. In addition to her rhythm-driven fiddling, she is a powerful blues singer, influenced by Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, and a highly respected blues guitarist. In 2003, after thirty years as a working musician, Suzy Thompson released her first solo CD, “No Mockingbird” which features blues songs (including the title track, which has been described as “Memphis Minnie on acid”) and oldtime fiddle rags. Suzy is backed on the album by an all-star cast including Maria Muldaur, Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, and Mike Seeger. Her followup CD, “Stop & Listen”, released by Arhoolie Records in 2005, is a live concert recording with Del Rey, Eric Thompson, and the Thompson String Ticklers.Over the past three decades, Suzy has been a leading force in many influential roots music groups, including the California Cajun Orchestra (two award-winning CDs on the Arhoolie label), the Blue Flame String Band (with Kate Brislin and Alan Senauke), Klezmorim (who started the klezmer music revival in the 1970’s), the all-woman Any Old Time String Band (featured on the Grammy-winning Arhoolie box set), and most recently, the Bluegrass Intentions (with banjo ace Bill Evans.) She has also worked with Darol Anger, Laurie Lewis, Beausoleil, Peter Rowan, Maria Muldaur, Jody Stecher, Del Rey, Geoff Muldaur, Alice Gerrard, D.L. Menard, Jane Voss, Rinde Eckert, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Sukay, and Frankie Armstrong, among others.