Susan Werner

After writing twelve albums of songs in styles ranging from folk/rock to Tin Pan Alley to gospel, country, and chamber music, what might a woman deemed by National Public Radio as “The Empress of the Unexpected” try next?  From her 1995 major label debut, the folk/rock gem Last of the Good Straight Girls, to her 2004 collection of Tin Pan Alley styled originals I Can’t Be New, to her 2007 “agnostic gospel” hymnal The Gospel Truth, to 2013’s tribute to agriculture and her Iowa farm roots Hayseed to 2018’s Cuban-flavored collection An American In Havana, Werner’s creative restlessness has become her defining characteristic.

She first arrived on the national stage when her 1995 BMG debut earned her national concert tours with Joan Armatrading and Richard Thompson. In 1996 Werner was featured as part of the “next generation” in Peter Paul and Mary’s PBS special LifeLines. She has performed on NPR’s World Café, NPR’s Mountain Stage, and in 2016 Nebraska Educational Television broadcast “The Land Will Outlive Us All,” a one hour special on Werner, agriculture, and her 2015 concert tour across the state.

Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones and Michael Feinstein, Broadway stars Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole, and countless individuals and ensembles. But Werner says she’s just getting started: “I just released an album of songs inspired by a trip to Cuba. And I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland – hey, maybe I could learn the bagpipes. It’s not impossible … is it?”