Susan Alcorn composes for and performs on pedal steel. Perhaps not the first instrument one thinks of when conjuring mental images of an improvising musician, but she does it. Susan is no carpetbagger to her instrument, either. Steeped in the blues, sharpened by playing real-deal Country & Western, Susan is taking the pedal steel where no one has gone before.
At the time of this writing, Susan is working on a new solo album, playing gigs, and in November, heading to Chile to perform with the Chilean musicians she played with on her album Canto (2023, Relative Pitch Records).
The Tonearm: What is your first memory of music?
Susan Alcorn: Hearing my mother sing nursery rhymes.
The Tonearm: You want someone to understand you. What song or album do you give them?
Susan Alcorn: Roberta Flack, First Take
The Tonearm: What instrument(s) can you play?
Susan Alcorn: Well, "play" is a broad word. My main instrument is the pedal steel guitar which sometimes I think I play well and other times I don't. Other instruments that I play (poorly) are the viola, the oud, charango, piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, trombone, and tabla drums.
The Tonearm: What song, album or artist never gets old for you?
Susan Alcorn: "98.6"
The Tonearm: What music do you and your significant other disagree about?
Susan Alcorn: My husband is not a musician, but has a broad palette of music he likes. I don't think he likes death metal and I'm not as fond of Fleetwood Mac.
The Tonearm: What is a creative work or artist, outside of music, that you love or admire?
Susan Alcorn: Remedios Varo.
The Tonearm: What was your first concert?
Susan Alcorn: Roger Williams (with my parents when I was ten), Mitch Ryder (without the Detroit Wheels) at 14 or 15.
The Tonearm: What instrument do you wish you could play?
Susan Alcorn: Piano.
The Tonearm: What person, dead or alive, would you like to share a meal with (and which meal of the day)?
Susan Alcorn: My grandmother. Lunch.
The Tonearm: There's a band playing in Heaven tonight. Who is in it?
Susan Alcorn: Arch Enemy
The Tonearm: What is your theme song?
Susan Alcorn: "Song of the Birds"
The Tonearm: Who is your musical hero?
Susan Alcorn: Joaquin Murphey
The Tonearm: What was your first paycheck related to music?
Susan Alcorn: I don't remember my first paycheck related to music, but my first pay was probably four or five dollars and some change from busking.
The Tonearm: When you were 15 your favorite artist, song or album was:
Susan Alcorn: John Coltrane, His Greatest Years, "Om (Closing Invocation)"
The Tonearm: You are programming a music festival. What artists, dead or alive, headline Friday, Saturday and Sunday night?
Susan Alcorn: Friday -Pauline Oliveros with Astor Piazzolla
Saturday - Olivier Messiaen (pipe organ) with Lori Freedman (bass clarinet) and Cecil Taylor (trumpet - during the current afterlife, he has learned to play the trumpet very well)
Sunday - Frank Zappa with Dion DiMucci and Dionne Warwick
The Tonearm: What artist is the most underrated or misunderstood?
Susan Alcorn: Bobby Goldsboro
The Tonearm: What is the last concert you saw?
Susan Alcorn: Jessica Pavone Trio at the Red Room in Baltimore
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