Doing the roots/alt-country thing as long as Oh Susanna's been doing it can take a toll on your emotional health.
Singing sincere songs of breaking hearts and broken promises over and over again at every gig is bound to spook even the crustiest performer.
So it went with Oh Susanna, better known to her parents as Susie Ungerleider. She's chucked most of the alt-country solo career for a new love in her life, a kick-ass band, and a pumped-up new record she'll be bringing to the Acoustic Waves concert at the Great Canadian Theatre Company on Sunday.
After two solid recordings -- Johnstown and Sleepy Little Sailor -- the Vancouver native felt it was time for a change.
"You have to change to stay creative," she says over the phone from her home in Toronto. "I don't want to be pigeonholed. I'm a firm believer in change for change's sake.
"At first I felt lonely doing the alt-country thing, which was something no one else in Vancouver was doing. Then I moved to Toronto and found a huge number of people who love this music.
"It's very popular right now. There's this very slick music that's on TV and clubs that's made by machines that's perfect. People are turning to the past, humans making music as an alternative to that."
No longer playing the lone wolf, Oh Susanna's in good company with her all-star band, made up of Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donovan, Kathleen Edwards' guitarist and producer Colin Cripps, local talent Jim Bryson and Cam Giroux on the drums.
"I'm really enjoying my rock groove," she laughs. "It's a lot of fun to play and I can step aside and let my band take the light. I don't always want to be the focus."
In the end, she's philosophical about categorizing music and musicians.
"Rock 'n' roll's changed," she says. "What people call alt-country really is new '70s rock."
Playing the GCTC is one of her favourite haunts "because I never know what to expect until I get there," she laughs, referring to being on a stage dressed for a play.
"I have fun with the theatrics. I feel like a character in the play."
