News Folk Artist Susan Werner to Play at Marlboro College, May 1

MARLBORO, VT -- (April 21, 2008) -- Susan Werner, innovative folk musician and witty author of the popular song, ''My Strange Nation,'' will play a free concert at Marlboro College on May 1. The show will take place in Ragle Hall, in the Serkin Center for the Performing Arts at 8:30 PM.

After studying classical voice at Temple University, Werner was inspired by a Nancy Griffith concert to sally into the singer/songwriter scene, playing her music at coffeehouses and small venues all over the northeast. She released her first two albums, ''Midwestern Saturday Night,'' ''Live at Tin Angel,'' and ''Last of the Good Straight Girls'' between 1993 and 1995.

Incorporating some Nashville country and soul sounds into her music, Werner re-entered the world of recorded music with her 2001 album ''New Non-Fiction'' and followed that with the release of ''I Can't Be New'' in 2004. SingOut! writes: '' 'I Can't Be New' is what happens when one of the most intelligent, sophisticated folk-pop singer-songwriters turns 90 degrees. ... She succeeds marvelously.''

In 2005, Werner's ''My Strange Nation,'' made some noise on Seattle radio stations and on the internet. She wrote the song to sound like a battle hymn and read like a poem about, ''both the poetry and hypocrisy innate to the United States.''

Her latest project, an album released in 2007, is called ''The Gospel Truth.'' The record wittily observes the varied reactions that people have to the Church in America in a wide range of musical styles, from bluegrass to gospel to goodness-knows-what, with titles like ''My Lord Will Trouble Me,'' and, the agnostic favorite, ''Probably Not.''

The New Yorker calls Werner ''a clever songwriter and an engaging performer, brings literacy and wit back to popular song.'' The Chicago Tribune sings her praises, saying that Werner is ''a triply blessed artist who sings adroitly, plays the piano smartly and, best of all, writes songs of genuine distinction and high craft.''

For more information, contact the Marlboro College Public Relations department at 802-251-7644 or pr@marlboro.edu.

Celebrating 60 years, Marlboro College offers undergraduate education in the liberal arts and, since 1997, graduate study focused on Internet technologies. Its 330 undergraduate students enjoy an 8:1 student-faculty ratio, a voice in governing the community and individualized courses of study on a 350-acre campus in the hills of southern Vermont.

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