Nashville, Tennessee
48 Years Old
Singer-Songwriter

writer profile >

BIOGRAPHY

Nashville native, Suzi Ragsdale virtually cut her teeth in the recording studio. Her dad a singer/songwriter as well, she grew up surrounded by music. At age 5, she sang with the kiddie chorus on her father Ray Stevens’ Grammy Award winning smash, “Everything Is Beautiful”. At 10, she began recording children’s albums and writing her own songs… by 13, she was singing other writers’ demos… & by 17 singing in local clubs.

In 1990, Suzi began collaborating with Verlon Thompson and the two produced 4 albums for their own VNS Records. They also joined Guy Clark’s band and played and sang on Guy’s albums such as Boats to Build (1992), Dublin Blues (1995) and Keepers (1997). Suzi can also be heard singing and/or playing on six of Darrell Scott’s seven albums from 1996 to the present. Darrell produced Suzi’s 1998 album Future Past, and both he and Verlon accompanied her on it.

Since 1990, Suzi Ragsdale’s vocal work has appeared on discs by Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, David Ball, Hank Williams Jr., Joy Lynn White, Tom Paxton, Ian Tyson, Jo-El Sonnier and many others. During this same time period, her songs were recorded by stars such as Anne Murray, Billy Dean, Pam Tillis, Mila Mason, Suzy Bogguss, Lari White, Lisa Brokop and the rock twins Nelson. From 1991 to present, she’s collaborated in studio & on stage with Darrell Scott.

In 2008, Suzi launched Stark Raven Records and in March of ’09, released her first project, Best Regards. She is currently working on her second project.

“Best Regards is just the right mix of wisdom, whimsy and white wine. My advice is to listen in your kitchen. There's a lot of hers in the music.”
-- Rodney Crowell

“Backed by sophisticated arrangements and innovative sonic textures, she performs a collection of strikingly original tunes. An absolutely stunning achievement.”

-- Robert K. Oermann
Music Row magazine

LEVEL

professional

GENRES

Singer/Songwriter, Folk

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Ray Stevens Music, I own my own publishing

Contact

Management: Suzi Ragsdale
Publishing: Ray Stevens Music
Label: Stark Raven Records
Administrative: Sabrina Shelfer

P.R.O.

BMI

INSTRUMENTS

accordion / piano

INFLUENCES

Guy Clark John Hiatt Elvis Costello Randy Newman Darrell Scott Patty Griffin

DAY JOB

Songwriter

I AM INTERESTED IN

in networking with songwriters
in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv

I WRITE:

For a living

I Also Write:
by myself
with others
for myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

experience >

SONG CUTS

Lari White Dierks Bentley Darrell Scott Lari White / Rodney Crowell Anne Murray Pam Tillis Billy Dean Lisa Brokop Julie Adams Joy Lynn White Genevieve Spalding Mila Mason Sisters Wade Nelsons Lana Kress

SONG PLACEMENTS

City of Industry

OTHER SONG OR ALBUM CREDITS

Verlon Thompson, "Out At The Barn”, Vocals, Harmony Vocals, Accordion Verlon Thompson, “Verlon Thompson”, Vocals, Harmony Vocals Guy Clark, “Boats to Build”, Vocals, Harmony Vocals Guy Clark, “Dublin Blues”, Harmony Vocals Guy Clark, “Keepers”, Harmony Vocals, Accordion Guy Clark, “Best of the Sugar Hill Years”, Harmony Vocals, Accordion Darrell Scott, “Aloha from Nashville”, Harmony Vocals Darrell Scott, “Family Tree”, Harmony Vocals Darrell Scott, “Theatre of the Unheard”, Harmony Vocals Darrell Scott, “The Invisible Man”, Harmony Vocals Darrell Scott, "Modern Hymns", Harmony Vocals Wayne Scott, “This Weary Way”, Harmony Vocals Pam Tillis, “Sweetheart's Dance”, Harmony Vocals Pam Tillis, “All of This Love”, Harmony Vocals Pam Tillis, “Greatest Hits”, Harmony Vocals Pam Tillis, “Every Time”, Harmony Vocals Pam Tillis, “RCA Country Legends”, Harmony Vocals Suzy Bogguss, “Something Up My Sleeve”, Harmony Vocals Randy Travis, “This Is Me”, Harmony Vocals Randy Travis, “Trail of Memories: The Randy Travis Anthology”, Harmony Vocals Randy Travis, “Very Best of Randy Travis”, Harmony Vocals Ian Tyson, “Eighteen Inches of Rain”, Harmony Vocals Ian Tyson, “All the Good 'uns”, Harmony Vocals Tom Paxton, “Wearing the Time”, Harmony Vocals Tom Paxton, “Comedians & Angels”, Harmony Vocals David Ball, “Thinkin' Problem”, Harmony Vocals Joy Lynn White, “Between Midnight & Hindsight”, Harmony Vocals Joy Lynn White, “Wild Love” Harmony Vocals Joy Lynn White, “Lucky Few”, Harmony Vocals Joy Lynn White, “One More Time”, Vocal Group Member, Harmony Vocals Johnsmith, “Break Me Open”, Harmony Vocals, Accordion Jellyroll Johnson, “Jelly Roll Johnson and a Few Close Friends”, Vocals, Harmony Vocals Ray Stevens, “Me”, Vocals Tall Paul, “Voodoo Doll”, Accordion Hank Williams, Jr., “Maverick”, Harmony Vocals Confederate Railroad, “Confederate Railroad”, Harmony Vocals Confederate Railroad, “Greatest Hits (Atlantic)”, Harmony Vocals Confederate Railroad, “Notorious” Harmony Vocals Confederate Railroad, “Rockin' Country Party Pack”, Harmony Vocals Jenn Adams, “In the Pool”, Harmony Vocals Clay Greenberg, “Tumbleweed” Accordion Mike Gouchie, “Bad Boys & Angels”, Harmony Vocals Various Artists, “Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective (Box Set)”, Harmony Vocals Various Artists, “Pearls in the Snow: The Songs of Kinky Friedman”, Accordion Various Artists, “No Song, No Supper: Sugar Hill Singer-Songwriters”, Harmony Vocals, Accordion Various Artists, “Mother Queen of My Heart: A Collection of Songs”, Harmony Vocals Various Artists, “Vanguard Collector's Edition”, Harmony Vocals Various Artists, “NASCAR: Runnin' Wide Open”, Harmony Vocals Various Artists, “Signatures III: A Song Writer's Album”, Harmony Vocals

>>

Daily Discovery: Odessa Rose, “Hummed Low”

Odessa Rose featured as the American Songwriter Daily Discovery.

>>

Home Videos: Gin House

Gin House performs their song "Roots" for a home town crowd.

>>

Q&A: Bright Eyes

After a brief stint as a solo artist, Conor Oberst has revived Bright Eyes to release The People’s Key, an album that deals with the nature of time, spirituality, and human existence. Also, it’s Rastafarian friendly.

>>

Jessica Lea Mayfield: Look At Miss Ohio

“Things are starting to get weird.”

Jessica Lea Mayfield, whose Nonesuch Records debut Tell Me is in stores now, is on the phone from her home in Ohio and we’re having a good laugh over her recent success. It’s beer o’clock on both ends of the phone, the last interview in a long week of talking to complete strangers for the two of us.