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Steve Suffet: Union Warriors stevesuffet 163 views Steve Suffet performing his song "Union Warriors" at Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, New York City, on October 7, 2011. Videography by Darrin Annussek. Song © Steve Su...
Anne Price: Headdy Down (by Guthrie & Sklamberg) stevesuffet 64 views Anne Price performing "Headdy Down" at the 11th Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash, held July 9, 2011, at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City. The words are by Woody Gu...
Don Friedman: Stewball stevesuffet 89 views Don Friedman (vocals, guitar) performing the traditional folk song Stewball in the style of Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly). Recorded live at the 11th Annual Woody Guthrie Bir...
Steve Suffet: Worried Man Blues (2011) stevesuffet 47 views "Worried Man Blues" (traditional) performed by Steve Suffet and friends at the 11th Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash, held at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on J...
Steve Suffet: 900 Miles stevesuffet 76 views Steve Suffet and friends performing "900 Miles" at the 11th Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash, held at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on July 9, 2011. Words: trad...
Steve Suffet: The High Ballad Man stevesuffet 42 views "The High Ballad Man" words and music by Steve Suffet ©. Performed by Steve Suffet and friends at the 11th Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash, held at the Bowery Poetry Clu...
Steve Suffet: Where's My Bagel & Lox? (2011) stevesuffet 68 views Steve Suffet performing "Where's My Bagel & Lox?" at the New England Folk Festival in Mansfield, MA, on April 15, 2011. Words & music by Joel Landy & Steve Suffet © 2006. C...
Steve Suffet: Sally Don't You Grieve (by Woody Guthrie) stevesuffet 133 views Steve Suffet performing the World War II version of "Sally Don't You Grieve" by Woody Guthrie at the Jacob's Ladder Folk Festival. Nof Ginosar, Israel. May 4, 2007. Song ©...
Anne Price: Peace Call (by Woody Guthrie) stevesuffet 293 views Anne Price performing "Peace Call" at the Yippie Museum Cafe in New York City. January 17, 2010. Accompanied by Steve Suffet on harmonica and Max Johnson on bass. Song by W...
Steve Suffet: Slipknot (by Woody Guthrie) stevesuffet 127 views Steve Suffet performing "Slipknot" by Woody Guthrie at the Jacob's Ladder Folk Festival. Nof Ginosar, Israel. May 4, 2007. Song © Ludlow Music. For archival and educational...

About Steve Suffet: Old Fashioned Folksinger

For more information, please visit my official website: http://www.stevesuffet.com

stevesuffet.com

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stevesuffet

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Jan 17, 2012

Date Joined

Jan 1, 2009

About this user

I'm Steve Suffet and I call myself an old fashioned folksinger. I was born in 1947 and I've been singing as far back as I can remember. My Mom was a jazz singer, a pretty good one, and she played the ukulele. She couldn't stand what she called "hillbilly music," so rebel that I was, when I was about five years old I used to insist on listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford sing "Sixteen Tons." Around the same time I got a harmonica as a gift and I used to go around tooting it just to annoy people. I eventually learned to play a few simple tunes, like "Oh, Susannah" and "When the Saints Go Marching In," and that drove everyone even crazier.

My Mom showed me a few chords on the ukulele, but I really never got into it. However, when I was in high school I spent $17 and bought a Harmony Stella guitar. For another $2 I bought a copy of Jerry Silverman's "Beginning the Folk Guitar," and from then on I was completely hooked. I started hanging out around the fountain in New York City's Washington Square Park on warm Sunday afternoons, and I tried to absorb everything I heard, including blues, bluegrass, ragtime, ballads, cowboy songs, hobo songs, union songs, topical-political songs, whatever. I took old Folkways records out of the library and then started buying my own. In a year or two I got my courage up to start performing at open stage nights -- hootenannies they were called then -- at various clubs and coffee house. My God, was I awful! But I certainly learned a lot, and I even met some fellow musicians whom I still know today.

Now the stuff I do I call folk music, but if you would rather call it roots music, or traditional music, or old time music, or even hillbilly music, that's OK with me. Essentially what I do is take any song I like, from whatever source, and sing it in a manner that suits me. Sometimes I change the tune a little bit, and sometimes I change the words. More and more I find that I'm making up my own songs. In fact, the well respected songwriter Jay Mankita once said, "Steve Suffet is one of the great songwriters of the decade." I certainly am not about to argue with Jay's assessment, but I'm still reluctant to think of myself as a songwriter. Old fashioned folksinger suits me just fine!

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