It was a loud night at the 331 Club on Saturday, one of those evenings where instead of paying attention to the musicians, folks tended to carry on their conversations all the louder just to be heard.This was a shame because it made local singer/songwriter Suzanne Vallie very difficult to hear.And Vallie is most definitely worth hearing.The former drummer from Mike Gunther’s Restless Souls (also known as Suzanne Scholten) has such a lovely voice that I had been waiting for months for her to play after accidentally stumbling across her last 331 gig awhile back. While I did feel a bit cheated since I don’t think that she was mic’ed quite loudly enough, I was still as impressed with what I heard as I was the first time around.
Vallie is a folk singer of the minimalist blues variety.While her recorded tunes often feature some sweetly mixed piano, violins, and electric guitar, usually when Vallie plays solo its just her and an acoustic guitar (though a pianist and drummer joined her for a couple of tunes on Saturday).Her throaty ethereal voice reminds me a great deal of Chan Marshall’s, though if anything, Vallie’s music is even more rootsy than Cat Power’s early stuff.The one big difference between the two ladies’ songs is that where Marshall could often be tear-jerkingly depressing, Suzanne Vallie keeps a much lighter tone.Her tunes are by no means vacuous, but she doesn’t seem to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders the way some singers do.The result is more bittersweet than it is heavy handed.
While I am not as familiar with Vallie’s catalogue as I would like to be, she did sing one of my favorites of her songs: "Keep Away."It’s a tune I recently found out she originally made up as a joke during a Duluth road trip, and one that I am certainly glad she decided to keep.While the lyrics are a little off the wall, the overall mood was one of the weightiest of Saturday night’s selections. Vallie’s live version didn’t include the spooky backing vocals and electric guitar of the studio track, but was just as effective in its bare form.
Now that I have seen her twice, I have reaffirmed my belief that Suzanne Vallie should be an artist to keep an eye on.Though she plays shows infrequently, I am hoping that eventually that will change.I certainly hope I don’t have to wait another two months again for her next one.
