Electronic Press Kit

Short Bio (70 words)

A Saskatoon native transplanted to the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada, Suzie Vinnick is the proud owner of a gorgeous voice, impressive guitar and bass chops and an engagingly candid performance style. Suzie has won 12 Maple Blues Awards, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards and is a 3X Juno Nominee. She has also twice won the International Songwriting Competition – Blues Category. Her latest album is entitled “Fall Back Home”.

Medium Bio (161 words)

A Saskatoon native transplanted to the Niagara Region of Ontario, Roots and Blues singer and musician Suzie Vinnick is a 3X Juno Nominee, a 2X Canadian Folk Music Award winner, and a 12-time winner of the Maple Blues Award for songwriting, female vocalist, acoustic act and more. Suzie has a voice you’ve heard a thousand times and one you’ll never forget. It soars, it growls, it whispers and it shouts from a deep, deep well of emotion. The pure joy she exudes when she plays her guitars is so worth the show. 

In July 2023 Suzie was a special guest of Blackie & the Rodeo Kings at Ottawa Bluesfest along with Daniel Lanois. She has also toured nationally with Downchild, Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Café, with ASV (Charlie A’Court, Lloyd Spiegel and Vinnick), the John McDermott Band and she performed for Canadian Peacekeepers in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf. She was also the voice of Tim Horton’s for 5 years.

Her latest album is entitled “Fall Back Home”.

Longer Bio (230 words)

A Saskatoon native transplanted to the Niagara Region of Ontario, Suzie Vinnick is the proud owner of a gorgeous voice, impressive guitar and bass chops, and an engagingly candid performance style.

Her career has seen triumph after triumph. Among her most recent successes: being awarded the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year, the 2023 Maple Blues Acoustic Act of the Year, the 2022 Maple Blues Female Vocalist of the Year, and the 2019 Saskatchewan Jazz Festival Special Recognition Award. Suzie achieved finalist status in the Solo/Duo Category at the 2013 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN; received the 2012 CBC Saturday Night Blues Great Canadian Blues Award and the 2012 Sirius XM Canada Blues Artist of the Year. Suzie has won 12 Maple Blues Awards, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Contemporary Vocalist of the Year and is a 3X Juno Nominee.

In July 2023 Suzie was a special guest of Blackie & the Rodeo Kings at Ottawa Bluesfest along with Daniel Lanois. She has also toured nationally with Downchild, Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Café, with ASV (Charlie A’Court, Lloyd Spiegel and Vinnick), the John McDermott Band and she has performed for Canadian Peacekeepers in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf. She was also the voice of Tim Horton’s for 5 years.

Her latest album is entitled “Fall Back Home”.

Tune your ears to one of Canada’s music greats, with “…a voice of spun gold and honey” Access Magazine

Suzie’s latest album, “Fall Back Home”  

Fall Back Home marks the triumphant return of acclaimed Canadian roots music singer/songwriter Suzie Vinnick. Fittingly released at the start of fall 2022, her seventh solo album is a compelling 11-song collection of solo compositions, co-writes, and carefully curated outside material.

As has become a Vinnick signature, Fall Back Home defies easy stylistic categorization. She is equally at ease in the blues, folk, and roots worlds, and elements of gospel and rockabilly are also present here.

The choice of album title (a lyric from “Talk To Me,” a song she co-wrote with Matt Andersen for the record) alludes to this eclectic approach. “I do cross over genres and I love all sorts of music so I consider that my home. There’s also a double meaning to the title, in that it references coming back home to a comfortable and safe place through the pandemic,” Suzie explains.

She adds that “I am an artist who loves a lot of different musical styles and singing in many different styles. I think of someone like Bonnie Raitt who dips her toes in a lot of places but still has a cohesiveness to her work and what she presents. I aspire to that.”

That goal is beautifully realized here. Vinnick’s warm, rich and emotionally eloquent voice and songwriting is a consistent thread on Fall Back Home, as is the quality of Danny Greenspoon’s production and the instrumental and vocal contributions of a genuine A-list of Canadian roots musicians and vocalists.

Suzie also points to a unifying goal in the selection of this new material. “I wanted an album of songs to make people feel good and a little hopeful. These last few years have been really challenging. People are still getting sick, and there’s a war in Ukraine, a nation that is my family’s heritage.

“That had been weighing on me quite heavily, which is even more reason to try to feel hopeful and positive. There is enough darkness going on out there so I feel this is a nice collection of songs that will lift you up.”

The album’s opening track is, in fact, entitled “Lift You Up,” and it sets the tone perfectly. A co-write by Vinnick and Ontario songwriter Karen Morand, it’s a soulful, gospel-tinged anthem featuring stellar guitar work from Colin Linden and backing vocals by Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar.

“Salt and Pepper” is a spirited bluesy romp with an affirmation that “I love you in the sun and the rain,” while “The Pie That My Baby Makes” is a sparse (vocals and upright bass only) slow blues tune full of spicy double entendres and with a vocal performance that reminds us of Suzie’s prowess as a compelling blues chanteuse.

Chilliwack classic “Raino” is also turned into a blues tune here, fueled by the fluent guitar of BC guitar aces Bill Henderson (yes, the Chilliwack frontman!) and Paul Pigat.

On the folkier side is “Talk To Me,” featuring big-voiced East Coast roots star Matt Andersen trading lines and dueting with Suzie on a gentle and warm ballad. “City & Skies,” a Vinnick and Carrie Catharine co-write, is another sweet-toned ballad, one paying homage to Suzie’s Saskatchewan roots that features guitar wizards Kevin Breit and Steve Dawson. “Big Train From Memphis” is a cover of a John Fogerty tune given a groove with the help of Pigat’s electric and Dawson’s pedal steel guitar work.

Adding a slightly mournful tone to the emotional arc of the album is “It Doesn’t Feel Like Spring Anymore,” a solo composition with deep personal resonance. “That song began as a journal entry I wrote on a hike, just after my father died in February 2000. Spring just felt void of feeling that year. Fast forward to 2009, and I brought the song with me to Nashville, and the music just came quickly to me there.”

Closing out Fall Back Home in epic fashion is “Hurt By Luck,” a Kevin Breit composition that struck a chord with Suzie. “The lady in the song brought me back to Louisiana,” she explains. “After Hurricane Katrina, my partner James and I went to New Orleans to help with some rebuilding. We visited a plantation that had been run by a woman who was rather hardened by the experience, and I felt the song could be her story.”

“I live in an old 1880s church in Niagara, and I sang the vocals here, late at night, with dimmed lights, thinking of her. I acted in a movie in my own mind.”

A core band assembled at noted Toronto studio Canterbury Music Company to lay down the bed tracks for most of the material on Fall Back Home, with remote recording from various studios around the continent employed for further instrumentation.

The elite group of renowned Canadian roots musicians recruited included guitar aces Breit, Linden, Dawson, Henderson, and Pigat, harmonica players Roly Platt and Carlos del Junco, drummers Davide Di Renzo and Gary Craig, bassists Russ Boswell and Alec Fraser, organists Jesse O’Brien and Mark Lalama, and guest vocalists Andersen, Gwen Swick, Michael Biggar and Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar.

The presence of such a formidable cast list testifies both to the peer respect and the friendships Vinnick has cultivated within the roots music community. “I consider everyone on the album friends,” she explains. “I’ve worked with them before and hired many of them in my band. I feel pretty blessed to have such a beautiful collection of musicians on Fall Back Home.”

Suzie’s relationship with veteran producer/engineer/mixer Danny Greenspoon (Spirit Of The West, Great Big Sea, Ian Tyson) is also a long and close one. “I always enjoy working with him,” explains Vinnick. “He is kind, and has big ears and a great sense of humour, so it is like working with my big brother on a record.”

“Danny did my 2002 release, 33 Stars, a cathartic album for me to make. We then worked on my 2010 acoustic blues record, Me & Mabel, which got me a third Juno Award nomination. That was quite barebones, me on vocal and guitar and a few special guests. During the pandemic, I revisited those two albums and felt that I wanted to work with Danny again, to try to combine elements of those records. Initially, Fall Back Home was going to be more acoustic but as we chose songs for the record it went a bit more to the electric side.”

During the pandemic-induced lockdown, Suzie honed her chops and entertained her fans with a weekly live-streamed concert from her home, hosted on the StreetJelly site. “I likely learned 150 songs for those shows,” she explains. One of them was Chilliwack’s ‘Raino,’ suggested by a friend for the show.

Over the course of a solo recording career now spanning nearly 30 years, Suzie Vinnick has earned two Juno nominations, 10 Maple Blues Awards (in the categories of Female Vocalist, Songwriter, Acoustic Act, and Bassist), and a Canadian Folk Music Award. She has also won two prestigious International Songwriting Awards, in the blues category.

Suzie has become a popular fixture on the blues and folk festival and club circuit, and her prodigious bass and guitar skills have shone in performance.

The phrase ‘works well with others’ also belongs on the Vinnick resume, via membership in folk /roots combos The Marigolds (this brought her another Juno nomination), Vinnick Sheppard Harte, and Betty and The Bobs, as well as work as a duo with Rick Fines, and with Tony D and His Cool Band.

Her voice has been heard in popular commercials for Tim Horton’s, Shoppers Drug Mart, and more and onscreen on TV and film soundtracks.

A totally engaging performer, Vinnick is now eagerly anticipating a return to the road. “I have over 50 shows booked over 5 months in 2023, sharing the bill with Lloyd Spiegel from Australia, with Charlie A’Court from the East Coast joining us for the second half.”

After launching the new album with a concert at Toronto venue 3030 on September 23, 2022, Suzie Vinnick will enjoy her fall, back home. We wholeheartedly recommend you do the same by checking out her beautiful record.

Written by Kerry Doole

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Promo Photos

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Performance Videos

https://www.suzievinnick.com/media/#videos

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Music

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QUOTES

“The more she writes and records, the more Suzie Vinnick helps define the sweet spot between roots and blues in Canada, where she is one of the country’s finest practitioners.”
Top 100 Canadian Blog by Bob Mersereau (FALL BACK HOME)

“This is the most charming and inspiring record I’ve heard all year. As Vinnick’s 7th disc this is a delicious mix of rock, folk, blues, even jazz under a ‘roots’ umbrella.  The eloquence and consistency of the songs are unforgettable.” HOT TRACKS:  The Pie That My Baby Makes, Talk To Me, Raino
John the Rock Doctor, Best of 2022 (FALL BACK HOME)

“At times introspective and vibrant, Suzie Vinnick has created a roots album of rocking rhythms with bluesy moods and country soul. Her finest yet? Quite possibly.”
Ferver Coulee (FALL BACK HOME)

“Brilliant mix of blues and Americana from Canada.”
– Kulturbloggen (FALL BACK HOME)

“Suzie Vinnick is a unique talent; a triple threat singer/songwriter/guitarist. She is emotive, joyous and funky all in the same song. Shake the Love Around is a great evolutionary step for this thoughtful and engaging artist.”
– Blues Blast Magazine (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Vinnick’s newly released Shake The Love Around aims for a fuller sound that’s firmly rooted in the blues.  Accompanied by a group of seasoned musicians, Vinnick shines as a performer and a songwriter.  As a vocalist, Vinnick has extraordinary range.  She can turn on a dime from a jazzy, Rickie Lee Jones tone to a blueswoman’s growl.  Given Vinnick’s Canadian roots, Joni Mitchell comparisons are inevitable.  Indeed, Mitchell’s trademark swooping high notes and half-spoken asides make their way into Vinnick’s vocal style.  Vinnick handles all the guitar work on the album, and her deft touch shows on both acoustic strumming and electric leads.”
– Jon Kleinman, Elmore Magazine (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Sometimes, when it comes to contemporary blues, it’s a good thing to challenge convention. Canadian singer/songwriter Suzie Vinnick plays with the standard modern forms delightfully on her new album, the utterly enjoyable Shake The Love Around…(vocally) her range is staggering. She has the kind of voice that you never get tired of hearing.”
– Winnipeg Free Press (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Shake The Love Around is one of those records that makes you feel better for having listened to it.”
– Music Reviews by the Rock Doctor (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

​​“Blessed with a gorgeous voice, throughout Shake The Love Around Vinnick leads her band through terrific songs filled with rich lyrical insights, smooth arrangements, and stunning and near-overwhelming performances…Shake The Love Around is an excellent blues and roots album from Suzie Vinnick. She never disappoints.”
– Fervor Coulee (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Possessed of enough vocal sass and soul to hang out exclusively on blues turf, Suzie Vinnick ups the ante with songwriting partnering that crosses borders with skill and ease.  While delivering the bluesy goods on tracks such as “Lean Into The Light” and “Watch Me”, the Ontario-based multi-instrumentalist casts a spell in ballad country with “Crying A River”.  Ms. V serves up some decidedly un-shabby covers of John Fogerty’s “A Hundred And Ten In The Shade” and Percy Mayfield’s “Danger Zone” as well.  Stealing this show, however, may be a bona fide folk anthem-in-waiting, “The Golden Rule”.”
– Roots Music Report (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Serving up a set where it shows she’s a long way from getting jaded and losing her mojo, this girl most likely to…has more chops than the meat department at the Costco warehouse.  Blues, folk, rock?  She’s got a toe in all those waters and handles them all with the ease of wrapping them around her little finger.  A real blast of fresh air, this set hit’s the target every timeout.  Killer stuff throughout.”
– Midwest Record (SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND)

“Me ‘n’ Mabel is a blues album that includes Suzie’s amazing singing, great material and wonderful acoustic playing and arranging. She’s truly blessed with a rare voice that’s playful, sassy and soulful….”
– Holger Petersen, CBC’s Saturday Night Blues

“This is the Suzie Vinnick recording that her blues fans have been waiting for: an intimate all-blues concert of just you, Suzie’s warm engaging voice, and her fine acoustic guitar, the eponymous Mabel….”
– Blues Doctor Julie Hill, Blue Remedy, CKLN 88.1 FM Toronto

“Suzie Vinnick’s new CD shows her at her most vulnerable and hence, most powerful. She has talent in every cell of her body….”
– Lynn Miles, Singer/Songwriter

“When Saskatoon native Suzie Vinnick takes the stage, she takes it from footlights to rafters and owns it. She can belt out a blues or croon a ballad with equal deftness. Her guitar work is effortlessly commanding and supremely tasteful. But it is mostly her powerful presence that leaves a lasting impression. This lady is a force of nature with a six-string guitar. You’ve got to experience her to understand.”
– Mike Agranoff, The Minstrel, Morristown, NJ

“you sing like sun on snow…”
– Craig Northey

“…a voice of spun gold and honey”
– Access Magazine

“Captivating and charismatic, Vinnick’s performance underlines the essence of the blues while setting out on a journey all her own. A voice and a feel that’ll soothe the keeper at the crossroads.”
– John Rutherford, Musician, Calgary, Alberta”

“One of the greatest voices in Canada!…”
– Elaine Overholt, vocal coach to Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones

“Her solo work jumps genre barriers with the ease of an Olympic hurdles champion… She’s equally at home in folk, blues, pop and country, and has come up with her best work yet here…”
– Kerry Doole, Exclaim Magazine

“An engaging performer…”
– The Globe & Mail

“She makes the act of genre-hopping seem completely effortless….”
– Kayla Hart, The Marlet, U of Victoria’s Independent Newspaper

“Warm, rich and emotional, Vinnick’s gorgeous vocals ring with confidence…”
– Ottawa Citizen

“Her powerful voice breathes sweet life into candid, personal and heartfelt lyrics…”
– Capital City

“Suzie Vinnick has a voice somewhere between Shawn Colvin, Rebecca Campbell and some angel who guided you through a night…”
– Vancouver Island Cosmic Debris

“Inevitable comparisons to a young Bonnie Raitt are fitting, as she moves easily through rock, country, pop and folk stylings…”
– Saskatoon Downtown

“Take an amazing voice, add a pinch of youth, mix slowly with some of the finest writing and instrumental talent around, and the recipe is complete…”
– Ballyrag

“…her big voice into a delicate space with style and tenderness; gentle-sounding, well-crafted, personal songs from the folk-pop neighbourhood of Shawn Colvin and Rickie Lee Jones…”
– Paul Morden, The Sarnia Observer