This week's guest
was Suzanne Reed.  As I mentioned last week, I booked Suzanne having never heard her before, and boy am I glad I took that leap of faith. She not only turned out to be a very fine performer, but she brought in a bunch of friends/fans/and family to boot. I took the word of some friends of mine that I trust and it paid off royally. Her stage presence is so charming and natural that she had all the Monkey regulars eating out of her hand. Her takes on Joan Baez's interpretations of songs by Phil Ochs, John Prine, Robbie Robertson, and many others were spot on. Her own song about growing old (reminded me of the best songs of Christine Lavin), and one from the perspective of a mentally disturbed mind (inspired by the movie A Beautiful Mind) were very funny and very poignant, respectively, well written and masterfully delivered.

Another cool thing was that she grew up in the El Cerrito neighborhood where the HMLC is located. She had friends in the audience with whom she went to grammar school. She brought real folks and real folk music to the Folkey Monkey, and that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.