The Rhythm and News - Aug. 1998

Where do all these silver-tongued young women with guitars come from, and why are they all finding their way to the mid-Hudson Valley?

Enter Susan MacLean. If anyone out there was lucky enough to catch the Go Girl! show at the CubbyHole CoffeeHouse in March, they would have heard MacLean's well-tuned voice soaring in the rarefied air of harmonious vocalizing where few singer-songwriters have the ability to go. In her always-see-the-bright-side folk-pop, MacLean nails every note - I wasn't surprised to find that she spent a few years in the musical theatre before turning her attention to songwriting. Her voice has that odd quality among the guitar-slinger crowd - it sounds trained. This produced in the listener what I refer to as "The Gordon Lightfoot Effect": The desire to lounge in bed on Sunday and listen to her while the golden light of morning streams through an open window, and be very, very happy.

Susan MacLean recently played to a standing-room-only crowd at Caffe Aurora, and from the first song she established a rapport with the audience that lasted until she finished her show two hours later. MacLean's wonderful voice has the ability to mesmerize an audience with a sense of carefree joy. Moments later, that same voice will convey a frailty of emotion that draws the listener by force into the mood of her singing. MacLean's lyrics are accessible and frequently reveal introspective struggles. In her song "Flying" MacLean captures the determination of someone ready to take a new step in life ("Flying, won't be crippled by your doubt.")

Accompanied by Todd Giudice, the harmonies in MacLean's original compositions were excellent. While MacLean is not an accomplished guitarist, the arrangements of her songs are beautiful and sophisticated. Giudice's embellishments were a perfect compliment to MacLean's playing, and this was very clear during the original tune, "Couples in the Park." In the song, when MacLean's muse pauses from wondering about a past lover while strolling in a park, Giudice's lead made you feel that you yourself had stopped by a fountain to ponder a past romance.

Whether covering songs by Bonnie Raitt, Lisa Atkinson, Fleetwood Mac, or playing her original folk-pop, MacLean appeared totally comfortable with a very appreciative audience.

- Lee Brown

Before AAA, when you thought of singer/songwriter, this is the kind of music that came to mind. Pure folky, but with an electric edge and gorgeous harmonies. Imagine early CSN as a solo female. Susan has an earthy appeal that makes for a comfortable album you can really get close to.

The overall feel of this January release is one of a lazy Sunday watching the bees in the roses. Waiting for the Rain is mostly folk-pop and rock intertwined with wholly acoustic moments, and MacLean's songs are beautifully written; there isn't a weak one in the bunch. At times one may get a whiff of the gentler side of Cowboy Junkies, or Over the Rhine. But this album is truly all MacLean, and it may send you out in a floppy straw hat to gather lavender if you're not careful.

Her voice sounds a bit like Heidi Berry with less vibrato. It's a finely tuned instrument, and she tackles this work with ease from the opening song. "Let the River Flow" is so catchy that it will stay with you for a while, the perfect blend of rock and pop to help push up the crocuses. She speaks of the two necessary sides of love: the sun and the rain that both give life. "You can't run from the showers/ and expect your love to flower," she tells. Speaking of rain once again in the heavier, edgier title track, MacLean focuses on the storm and it's painful: "Dark oceans cling to the sky/ they hold enough to wash this hatred from my eyes...I'm waiting."

One interesting note about his release: MacLean's CD packaging is made almost exclusively from recycled materials. A staunch environmentalist, she has made this commitment as part of her work: "My CD packaging is recycled paper and soy-based ink. I try as much as possible to make a smaller impact on the envritonment. I had a lot of people tell me, 'You have to go with jewel cases because otherwise DJs won't like it.' And I thought, 'I'm sorry, I can't justify that. I just can't.' The DJs are going to have to get used to this kind of packaging, because hopefully more and more people will start using it."

- Sharon Nichols

Susan MacLean of Woodstock has a luscious voice and sings original songs that are just as rich.

Just listen to her new album, "Waiting for the Rain." Not only does it feature her terrific voice and songs, the acoustic electric music is brimming with heartfelt hooks. She writes lyrics that sound simple yet carry a lot of weight: "Sun and rain, it takes both to make life/You can't run from the showers, and expect your love to flower."....

- Stephen Israel

Local singer/songwriter Susan MacLean's debut CD, Waiting for the Rain, is the kind of album that sneaks up on you - you find yourself humming her folky pop songs days after listening to it, wondering at first just what the strange tune on your lips is. The influences of the crip of '90s female songwriters on MacLean is clear - echoes of the finely-tuned lyrics of Shawn Colvin and the observational eye of Natalie Merchant resound on Waiting for the Rain. What sets MacLean apart are her pipes: Her voice is flawless.

Although Susan MacLean's debut CD "Waiting for the Rain" is still being pressed as of this writing, the Woodstock based singer/songwriter is already thinking about her next project.

"I have written new songs since doing this record," she says. "As with most songwriters, my favorite thing is usually what I'm writing right now. But even as I move on with my music, I don't feel that this record will become obsolete."

Obsolescence shouldn't be an issue: "Waiting for the Rain," due for release in early January, features 10 MacLean originals, all of which have been honed during her tenure as an acoustic club performer over the past few years.

The newly-married MacLean, along with husband, Todd Giudice, collaborated on the recorded effort. Giudice's influence says Maclean, has aided her sound's transition from strictly acoustic to acoustic rock.

"In the beginning, I was just writing and playing and enjoying what I was doing without putting a label on it," she explains. "Once I started working on the album, I had to get serious and ask: 'Where am I going and what am I doing?' The album turned out to be more rock. I probably wouldn't have expected being on the pop/rock end of it, but I am writing more and more in that style, and I enjoy playing it."

Giudice, along with engineer, Buck Brundage, shared production duties on the recording. "I had a lot of input, too!" laughs MacLean.

"We had some wrestling matches over certain things. You win some, you lose some. There were three of us and between us all, there was something that each of us got in that grew on everyone else. It was kind of give and take, and I think it made a much better album than it would have if it was just one of us."

Shades of female storytellers such as Natalie Merchant and Carly Simon permeate MacLean's pleasing pop style on such solid originals as pensive "Couples in the Park" and the poignant acoustic ballad, "Tend the Fire".

"Your love is a crystal in my hand," MacLean tenderly sings on the haunting "Love Running Dry." "I hold it gently as I can" The CD's title track - with its distorted guitars, edgy harmonies and sixties sensibilities - is an album high point, as are the gospel-influenced "Power and Glory," and, with its beautiful string arrangement, "Hello Darling."

"I definitely feel like it's a crossover record, " MacLean explains. "It's interesting for me because it shows my progression. There are some acoustic, more folky songs on there that I really love."

The lead off track, "Let the River Flow", has been tagged as the 'push tune' from the album. Locally, WRRV and WVKR have given the track spins, as well as a number of college stations in the Manhattan area.

"I went to the Northeast Folk Alliance in the poconos and several deejays from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts picked it up," she says. "One listened to 15 seconds of the first song and said, 'Great, I'll take it and put it on my station.'"

Aside from participating in music showcases, such as various Indiegrrl engagements throughout the Northeast, MacLean remains confident in the possibilities for her music to reach a larger audience.

"I like to think anything is possible with this record and with my career as a songwriter," she explains. "Really, what I'd be so pleased with is making a good living at it - and that doesn't require fame and fortune."

- Lisa Fairbanks

It was about a year or so ago when Susan MacLean first attended an open mike session that I host. It would have been hard not to notice the pretty "new kid" with a guitar and a satchel full of love songs. And there she was, week after week, getting familiar with the room and its regulars, and in time becoming a regular herself.

A singer/songwriter of exceptional ability, MacLean's smooth picking technique and full classic folk voice are well suited for the personal subject matter and intimate style. A complete package, right? Not quite.

MacLean's recently discovered the wonders of fronting a rock band. Thanks in part to boyfriend/musical collaborator, Todd Giudice (who she met at the aforementioned open mike gig), MacLean has found a side to her music and to herself that she was not expecting.

She says, "We were hanging out at the house and Todd, bassist Rich Holler and drummer Dave Schmidt were here and we just started doing some of my songs. I was amazed at the sound of the full band because I was used to performing as a solo artist."

MacLean, who had never before even considered working in a band situation, quickly found that her material lent itself nicely to the genre switch.

I never thought of working with a band," she says, "The people that I listen to - like Vance Gilbert, Greg Brown, Ani DiFranco - they all work solo, so I thought that's what I do. This approach brought out an aspect of my music that I wasn't aware of. My songs are not necessarily rock songs, but they take so well to (a rock approach). It's really exciting."

As for working with Giudice, MacLean says that the musical side to their relationship is just a natural extension of their personal compatibility.

"When we met, we both already had our own musical identities. It took a while before we started performing together."

In fact, the pair continues to remain musically independent of one another. The night we talked, MacLean was readying herself for a live on-the-air performance on 90.3 WVKR-FM's "Scene Unseen" program (Wednesdays 6-8pm), where her songs have been receiving regular spins, while Giudice was to be a featured performer at Vickie Russell's Songwriters in the Round at the Joyous Lake in Woodstock.

The partnership has its benefits for both MacLean and Giudice.

"We have been writing together, which has been wonderful for me. Todd is an amazing arranger of songs...and we've finished a number of songs together."

Giudice says that his band, Teeth, currently on a brief hiatus while drummer John Rush mends from a foot injury, remains his artistic priority. But, in the meantime, he performs solo acoustic sets at a number of area open mikes ("If I didn't, I wouldn't have met Susan," he says) and with MacLean's band to stay "in it".

Giudice says, "Susan and I just really click. When I play with her, I can hear what she wants to do with the songs, and I can be there in a way that I know how to. Though I can't wait to get back on stage to do my own thing, this is a great second project and she's doing great."

- George Fletcher