DAVID
A magical afternoon spent with Suzanna Choffel reiterated precisely She goes on, “Erykah Badu is another and Feist is a favorite. I feel a why it’s easy to predict her growing fame. She had suggested Bouldin kinship to her music and am also in awe and envy of her constant Creek Coffeehouse for a mid-day breakfast and conversation. Paired with touring. You could say I have tour envy.” Blended with her passion for her funky orange top, huge feathery earrings and chandelier necklace, she touring, Choffel will, without a doubt, be hitting the road sooner than really couldn’t be more Austin, except that she planned on spending the later to continue spreading her gypsy notes around the world, which has remainder of her day teaching guitar and voice lessons, grabbing an ice her looking toward other places to settle. “I’ve actually been considercream snack from Amy’s Ice Cream and going night swimming at Barton ing moving lately. I love Austin and it will always be home, but I’m getSprings. All this is added to the fact that her boyfriend, Paul Oveisi, just ting the itch to try a different place out for a while. I lived in Santa Fe for happens to own Momo’s Club, one of Austin’s well-known venues that three years when I was in college and loved it. But I think I’m ready to plays host to some of the city’s best acts and nationally touring artists. try out a big city like New York or L.A. If not, I definitely hope to be tourSuzanna Choffel is Austin. ing and my big hope for next year is Europe... I’ve never been and people Having deemed herself as a “smoky-voiced female lead, singing pop keep telling me they think my music would be well-perceived there,” she songs with a little bit of an urban feel,” Choffel recently released her lat- explains. I couldn’t agree more. Europe would be a catapulting stage for est project, Steady Eye Shaky Bow, the first album since her 2006 debut, Choffel and am quite eager to see this potential tour unravel. Shudders & Rings. Since May, Steady Eye Shaky Bow has sold more than We allowed our conversation to drift over omelets and iced lavender 1,500 copies and the single, “Raincloud,” is getting daily airplay in Austin. matés, talking philosophy, life, passions and art. Afternoon breakfast Although she began performing professionally in 2004, Choffel has been with Choffel was more like catching up with a sister or childhood friend. a musician since childhood. In fact, her first gig was at Saxon Pub at At one point I apologized for finishing her sentence. She replied, “No, it’s twelve years old, as a member of her then-band, Red Headed Stepchild. like magic... we’re on the same wavelength.” In another moment while She now tours as Suzanna Choffel and is also a member of Austin’s col- describing her adoration for local Meggan Carney’s “folky, jazzy 20s laborative band, The Coveters, alongside some other well-known local and 30s throwback songs,” she began snapping her fingers and singing, artists including Ed Jurdi of the Band of Heathens. “You’re my honeypie...” In her undeniably beautiful voice, one cannot help With a dusty, beautiful folk princess voice, Choffel’s inspirations but think that the decade she’s spent writing heartfelt, honest lyrics and have been as diverse as her painter, writer and musician persona. “Ani her sincere connectivity to both people and the world, that wherever she DiFranco was the first musician I saw doing it her own way- raw, pure, hangs her hat, she will certainly find a cozy, blue-eyed home in music genuine... all about audience. And she toured relentlessly,” she explains. libraries across the globe.
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PAIGE NEWTON
CHOFFEL
STEPHEN ALCALA
SUZANNA
RAMIREZ
“Folk-brewed Pop” is the modern-Americana genre label singer-songwriter David Ramirez has received from his fans, having been writing and playing his own music for more than ten years. A self-proclaimed wanderer, Ramirez quotes Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights, “Texas forever!” when asked where he sees himself in a year. That said, he admits Austin is his second home and the open road his first. Austin will remain his stationary escape from the highway where he’s constantly seeking exploration, new towns, new people and inspiration. “Lord willing, I’ll never leave this town. I do plan on touring a great deal within the next 12 months and I have plans right now to get back in the studio come early 2012.” Beginning his musical career at the ripe age of 17, he knew he had quite a bit of catching up to do. “I was pretty late in the game so I really had to put in those extra hours skipping class and not doing homework to get to a point where I felt comfortable,” Ramirez explained. “I did go to college for a couple years and studied music business... went through a few theory classes, understood a little more, then one day started a band in Dallas. This was where I gained a true taste for collaboration and performance. I fell in love and although the band didn’t last long, it propelled me over the years to move to Nashville, travel and to move down here to Austin. It’s been a good road and I look forward to many more years on it.” It’s this commitment and dedication paired with his clear, concise, yet youthful wisdom that I believe will launch him farther down the
highway than maybe even he could imagine. Having produced several EPs and one full length album, American Soil, Ramirez has had quite a successful run thus far. In 2010 alone, Ramirez played 150 shows, all stemming from independently booked tours. September’s shows include performances in Lubbock, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Glendale, Arizona, emphasizing his everlasting role as a traveling musician, a traveling man. In recent shows along Ramirez’s tours, he’s finally started to realize that people elsewhere are discovering his music, “One significant thing has been hitting these cities that I’ve never played and finding people who were familiar with my work. I’ve never expected that of anyone; I’ve always just wanted to play for whoever was there, but seeing it happen has been quite an honor. I’m no longer only playing for strangers and I think that will always be a surprising moment for me.” Ramirez agrees that Austin is the perfect base for the creative-minded and the artist’s soul, “I think [one] of Austin’s attributes that helps is her care for herself. Local business and local art have a home here and as long as that stays a priority, creativity will exist.” And I think he’s right. It seems the road has taught Ramirez quite a bit along the way and that wisdom will certainly help accelerate him into well-deserved fame. He finished the interview with, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” And that, my friends, is a simple and powerful lesson, reflective of the Austin dogma, that we should all run with. ALM
Artist Predictions
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Wheeler Brothers: Little Lo, Hayes Carll, Bright Light Social Hour & Drew Smith Suzanna Choffel: T-Bird, The Breaks, Little Brave, Cowboy and Indian, Wheeler Brothers & Meggan Carney David Ramirez: White Dress, Suzanna Choffel, & Shakey Graves
UtopiaFest OCTOBER 14 & 15 Featuring Suzanna Choffel & Wheeler Brothers and others utopiafest.com
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