American singer-songwriter and musician
Suzanna Choffel
|
---|
Suzanna Choffel live at SXSW Music Festival, 2009
|
|
Birth name
| Suzanna Louise Choffel
|
---|
Born
| (
1980-03-04
)
March 4, 1980
(age 44)
|
---|
Origin
| Austin, Texas
, U.S.
|
---|
Genres
| Indie folk
, pop,
reggae
,
R&B
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| Musician, songwriter
|
---|
Instrument(s)
| Vocals, guitar
|
---|
Years active
| 2004?present
|
---|
Labels
| Middlebitty,
Universal Republic
,
Red Parlor
|
---|
|
Website
| suzannachoffel
.com
|
---|
Musical artist
Suzanna Choffel
(born March 4, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has appeared on national television
[1]
and in film.
[2]
Known for her distinct voice and
reggae
-inspired guitar technique, her music has been described as "a unique sound equal parts Beat poetry, smoky soul grooves and indie-pop eccentricity."
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Choffel's given name is a variation inspired by
Leonard Cohen
's song "
Suzanne
." She was born in
Austin, Texas
into a music-loving family and began writing songs at a young age. Her earliest compositions were simple voice-and-keyboard pop pieces, which she recorded herself on a karaoke machine.
[4]
When she was 12 her parents divorced and Choffel moved with her mother and two sisters from the suburbs, first to
The Drag
and then to South Austin, where she spent her formative years.
[5]
Choffel was a paid performer by age 14, joining
R&B
band Red-Headed Stepchild and singing her first club shows at the Saxon Pub, Broken Spoke and Continental Club.
[6]
At 17 she was singing in
Bonnie Raitt
and
Bessie Smith
blues jams downtown at Babe's on
Sixth Street
.
[5]
She taught herself how to play guitar
[7]
after seeing
Patty Griffin
perform at the
Cactus Cafe
[8]
and when she "got into
Bob Marley
and wanted to make those funky, percussive sounds that he and
Peter Tosh
played."
[9]
While at
Southwest Texas State University
, she joined roots-rock-Latin group the Humblebums, opening in 1999 for the Scabs featuring frontman
Bob Schneider
at
Antone's
Blues Club,
[10]
and was later recruited by Liquid Stereo Project, a seven-piece
hip hop
/jazz fusion band for which Choffel became the primary songwriter, exploring different rhythmic phrasing, rapping, and recording.
[4]
After two years she transferred to College of Santa Fe (now
Santa Fe University of Art and Design
) to study contemporary music, and frequently participated in hip hop freestyles on campus, performing with rapper Ben Haggerty early in his career as Professor
Macklemore
.
Music career
[
edit
]
Choffel returned to Austin in 2003 to pursue music as a career and developed a hybrid musical style by mixing pop, soul, jazz, and world elements.
[11]
After an immersive trip to Brazil in 2004, she recorded and released her debut album
Shudders & Rings
in 2006.
[8]
[12]
The album yielded the regional hit "Hey Mister," which was licensed for inclusion on the 2008
Austin Music Vol. 7 Compilation
CD also featuring Trish Murphy and Will Sexton, and timed to coincide with a U.S. tour, her first as a bandleader.
[13]
"Hey Mister" placed 2nd in the International Songwriting Competition
AAA
category that year.
[14]
In November 2008, Choffel was featured on the cover of
The Austin Chronicle
headlined "The Next Fun Fearless Female Rock Star," a reference to her semi-finalist finish in
Cosmopolitan
's StarLaunch™ campaign, following her Grand Prize win in the Nationwide FameCast Competition.
[8]
She was awarded "Best Indie Band" at the 2009 Austin Music Awards, where she headlined the official kick-off show at the annual
South by Southwest
music festival.
Chicago Sun-Times
critic Jim DeRogatis wrote that Choffel "impressed me more than any I've heard here with a unique sound equal parts Beat poetry, smoky soul grooves and indie-pop eccentricity. Think
Feist
meets
Erykah Badu
, with a hint of
Tex-Mex
seasoning."
[3]
Choffel played the
CMJ
Music Marathon in 2008, South By Southwest (2009?2012), and
Voodoo Experience
festival in 2009.
[15]
[16]
In late 2009 Choffel began working with producer Danny Reisch (
White Denim
,
Bright Light Social Hour
) on her second album after her recording of the song "Archer" was picked up by
Dell
for a
Windows 7
commercial.
[8]
Choffel released the album
Steady Eye Shaky Bow
independently in 2011.
[17]
Guest artists include
David Garza
, Michael Kingcaid,
Brad Houser
, and
Big Sam's Funky Nation
lending horns on the album's single, "Raincloud," which got regional promotion. The album garnered critical acclaim for its innovative blend of genres and Choffel's commanding voice.
[11]
[18]
Michael Corcoran of the
Austin American-Statesman
called it "a record of shimmering soul and percussive mental massage that demands to be played start to finish."
[8]
Choffel appeared at
Austin City Limits Music Festival
in 2011,
[19]
and toured extensively to promote the album, including U.S. tours with
Jacob Jeffries Band
in 2012
[20]
and
Wakey!Wakey!
in early 2013.
[21]
In February 2013, she shared a bill with
Emeli Sande
and
Skylar Grey
at the Key Club Los Angeles.
[22]
In 2012 the track "Stumble" was awarded 3rd place in the International Songwriting Competition performance category.
Steady Eye Shaky Bow
won Best Album in the 2012 Independent Music Awards singer-songwriter category.
[23]
Choffel re-released the album, renamed
Archer
, with "Golden Fires" as a bonus track, internationally on
Red Parlor Records
in 2013.
[24]
She toured France in early 2014 to positive reviews.
[25]
In June 2014, Choffel joined the band Spanish Gold as a keyboardist and backup singer for the remainder of the band's national tour.
[26]
After releasing her album,
Hello Goodbye
, in 2017, Choffel moved back to Austin to settle down and start a family. She currently hosts a daily radio slot for alternative radio station Sun Radio in what she describes on the station's website as, "the greatest day job ever."
[27]
Film and TV
[
edit
]
Catfish
[
edit
]
A YouTube video of Choffel performing the
Jimmie Driftwood
song "
Tennessee Stud
" appeared in the 2010 film
Catfish
, as an audio "rip" that triggers a pivotal plot twist in the film. Choffel learned of her involvement when the documentary was released, but she had deleted the original video?which was online in 2009 for only 48 hours?from YouTube. She posted a re-recording soon after the film's release.
[28]
The Voice
[
edit
]
In 2012, Choffel auditioned for the
third season
of NBC's
The Voice
. She won a spot on
Blake Shelton
's team after performing
Fleetwood Mac
's "
Landslide
" and being selected by both
Adam Levine
and Shelton. She then defeated
Lelia Broussard
in their duet of "
Dog Days Are Over
" in the "battle rounds". Choffel exited the program with a rendition of Bob Marley's "
Could You Be Loved
" in a "knockout round" to
Cassadee Pope
.
In a season recap,
Rolling Stone
singled out Choffel's performance, calling her "more powerful than even some of the top-notch pop belters."
[29]
Choffel herself said, "I was definitely the wild card of the show, doing folk, pop, and reggae, and that may have hurt me in the end, but it's who I am."
[30]
Discography
[
edit
]
Name
|
Label
|
Year
|
Shudders & Rings
|
Middlebitty Records
|
2006
|
Steady Eye Shaky Bow
|
Middlebitty Records
|
2011
|
"Golden Fires" (Video single)
|
|
2011
|
"Landslide" (Commercial single)
|
Universal Republic Records
|
2012
|
"Dog Days Are Over" (Commercial single)
|
Universal Republic Records
|
2012
|
Archer
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Red Parlor Records
|
2013
|
Hello Goodbye
|
Middlebitty Music
|
2017
|
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Year
|
Association
|
Category
|
Result
|
2008
|
International Songwriting Competition
|
AAA ? "Hey Mister"
|
2nd Place
|
2012
|
International Songwriting Competition
|
Performance ? "Stumble"
|
3rd Place
|
2012
|
Independent Music Awards
|
Singer-Songwriter Album ?
Steady Eye Shaky Bow
|
Best Album
|
Singer-Songwriter Song ? "Golden Fires"
|
Nominated
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"NBC's
The Voice
"
. NBC
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
Jones, Kimberly.
"Double-Faced: Social media sends one man into a tailspin in 'Catfish'
"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
DeRogatis, Jim.
"SXSW 2009: Let's hear it for the ladies in the house"
. Chicago Sun-Times
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"Suzanna Choffel and Sarah Sharp in Houston"
. Eventful
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Moser, Margaret.
"The Next Fun Fearless Female Rock Star"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
Flanakin, Duggan.
"Back to Love on the Lawn!"
. Flanfire. Archived from
the original
on June 28, 2013
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Roberts, Kathaleen.
"Santa Fe College Alumna Competes on 'The Voice'
"
. Albuquerque Journal
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Corcoran, Michael.
"With 'Steady Eye Shaky Bow,' Suzanna Choffel aims high"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
- ^
"Hey Ladies: Being a Woman Musician Today"
.
NPR
. July 19, 2010
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Club Calendar"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Beal Jr., Jim (May 18, 2011).
"Choffel's soul"
. San Antonio Express-News
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Shudders & Rings"
. Eventful
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Caligiuri, Jim.
"Suzanna Choffel @ One World Theatre"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"International Songwriting Competition"
. ISC
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Harris, Pete.
"CMJ Preview"
. IndieSounds. Archived from
the original
on October 21, 2008
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Past Shows"
. Voodoo
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"CD Baby"
. CD Baby
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Coronado, Adam.
"Aural Pleasure Revuew"
. San Antonio Current
. Retrieved
June 21,
2013
.
- ^
"Concert Recap: ACL Festival"
. MOOD
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"JJB Links Up with The Voice's Suzanna Choffel"
. The Black Key Group
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Past Dates"
. SonicBids
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"ChapStick(R) Sessions Applies a Spotlight on Musically Talented Lips"
. WSJ
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"IMA Buzz"
. Music Resource Group. March 19, 2013
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
"Suzanna Choffel qualifies for The Deli's Best of NYC 2013 Poll's final stage (2nd place in ALT FOLK category)"
.
The Deli Magazine | nyc.thedelimagazine.com/
.
- ^
Suzanna Choffel Archer
lespetiteschroniques.com January 27, 2014
- ^
Curtin, Kevin.
"Playback: Mac's Love Letters"
. The Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
June 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Sun Radio DJS ≪"
.
Sun Radio
.
- ^
"Suzanna Choffel Enjoys 'Catfish' Success"
. iamrogue
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Hopper, Jessica (September 25, 2012).
"Most Graceful Song Suicide"
. Rolling Stone
. Retrieved
May 30,
2013
.
- ^
Curtin, Kevin.
"Playback"
. Austin Chronicle
. Retrieved
May 29,
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Seasons
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Winners
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Winner's singles
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Runners-up
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Other alumni
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Related articles
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International
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National
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Artists
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