Susan Werner brings a supple alto and powerful guitar and piano ability to the stage, spicing up her remarkable songcraft with a charismatic presence and astute social commentary. Her finely polished songs meld folk, contemporary, and jazz elements into smart, unpredictable, and richly evocative gems.

An Iowa native now residing in Chicago, Susan earned a master's degree in classical voice from Temple University. She honed her performance skills in listening rooms on the east coast before gaining national attention in 1996 with the release of her third album, Last of the Good Straight Girls.

Spotlighting her most recent CD, I Can't Be New (Koch), Susan breathes fresh, scintillating life into the popular song tradition with tunes that New Yorker magazine praised as "sublime originals that sound like Great American Songbook classics."