What
happened was...It was supposed to be
a one-time thing. A lark. A goof. We were an
indie-rock/pop band called the Gentle Readers,
and we wanted to do a whole show of cover songs
--songs by other artists from the 60's and
70's.
So we named ourselves after a friend, Susi
French, and added the "Connection" not
only for the purpose of arousing intrigue (as
in
'what kind of a connection?') but to display
our Faye Dunaway-esqe sensibility. We had three
albums out of our own, and we all sort of harbored
feelings of distrust at the least in any musician
who put on a rented tuxedo (or worse yet, owned
one) and played limp versions of mediocre songs
for money. It seemed like selling out.
But we grew up in the 70's and always loved
the music and so with reverence in our hearts,
we learned a group of songs, and people came
to our show, and they sang along, and everybody
just really had a great time. What began in
2000 as a one-time-only event has blossomed
into our main deal. We're The Susi French Connection
full-time now, and in addition to our twice-a-year
shows at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia,
we've started playing weddings and parties of
all sorts.
Our lineup of two guitars, keyboard, bass guitar,
and drums is augmented by our fabulous background
singers The Baguettes. From the beginning it
has been the extraordinary harmony singing of
Mary Rutt and Becky Shaw that makes the whole
dang deal. Singer Susan Fitzsimmons, guitarist
Lee Cuthbert (that's me - I'm the disembodied
internet voice), drummer Linda Bolley and bassist
Greg Partridge have been performing together
as the Gentle Readers for many years, and keyboardist
Allen Broyles is our newest member.
The Susi French
Connection song list includes disco, classic
country, rock and pop hits by everyone from
Donna Summer to Neil Diamond to the Bee Gees,
Abba and many others.We now think that maybe
all the good songs have already been written
(which is why we gave up writing our own). If
you're a little too hip for a "wedding
band," (and believe me, I never thought
I'd play in one) if you want to hear great songs
played by a rock band and not a lounge band,
and if you like a little witty banter (we've
known each other too long), then you're at the
right Web site. If you don't have a superlative
time at a Susi French show, you must be an evildoer.
That's all I can say about it.
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