Suzanne Vega at DCA

Popular singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega will take the stage at the Door Community Auditorium in Fish Creek Friday, August 28 at 8 pm. Vega will perform the songs that have earned her critical acclaim from fans and critics worldwide.

A masterful storyteller, Vega’s words and music evoke images of clarity and truth. Vega grew up in New York City’s Spanish Harlem and Upper West Side, and was influenced by her mother and her stepfather, writer Egardo Vega Yunque. In her home, the music that flowed through the house was an eclectic multicultural mix of Motown, bossa nova, jazz, and folk. By the age of 11, Vega had picked up a guitar and as a teen, she wrote her first songs.

In the early 1980s, after attending the High School for the Performing Arts and Barnard College, Vega began appearing in Greenwich Village clubs where she performed her own compositions of folk music. Her lyrical voice and original music drew the attention of many fans, who began following her from gig to gig.

Ironically, as Vega sought a recording label, she encountered rejection by every major record company. A&M Records, eventually signed her, and Vega released her debut self-titled album in 1985. The recording received high praise and critical acclaim, and unexpectedly sold more than 2,000,000 copies. Rolling Stone magazine has listed the album’s recording “Marlene on the Wall” as one of their “100 Greatest Recordings of the 1980s.”

Solitude Standing, Vega’s sophomore album, featured the hit “Tom’s Diner,” which has been recorded by dozens of artists including R.E.M. and Will Smith. Another cut from the album, “Luka,” a song about child abuse, has entered the cultural vernacular and succeeded in bringing considerable attention to the issue. The album went platinum and was nominated for three Grammy Awards.

Vega’s most recent album Beauty and Crime, was released in 2007. The album is a tribute to New York City in the wake of 9/11 and the death of her brother.

Accolades have only continued throughout Vega’s 22-year career. Always experimenting with new sounds, styles, and genres, her music is new, fresh, inventive, and creative. Vega’s neo-folk style has encouraged a new wave of female acoustic singers including Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin, and the Indigo Girls.

Tickets for the show are $38/$33 and $28, and are available at the Door Community Auditorium box office, by calling 920.868.27278, or online at http://www.dcauditorium.org. Box-office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am – 3 pm, on weekend show days from 11 am – 3 pm, and one hour prior to performances.