With her massive late ’80s hits “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner” and their parent albums, Suzanne Vega (1985) and Solitude Standing (1987), singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega returned folk rock to the mainstream, opening the door for up-and-coming artists like Tracy Chapman, Edie Brickell, and Ani DiFranco. Vega visits Levon Helm Studios on April 23 at 8pm.
For this cozy concert at the departed Band drummer’s home and studio, Vega will be performing in support of her newest album, 2020’s An Evening of New York Songs and Stories, which was recorded live at the Cafe Carlyle in New York in 2019. On the disc, she acknowledges her debt of influence to her late friend Lou Reed via a version of his classic “Walk on the Wild Side.” Her previous album, 2016’s Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, is culled from her one-woman play about the famed Southern gothic novelist.
Suzanne Vega will perform at Levon Helm Studios on April 23 at 8pm. Tickets are $75 and $100.
This article appears in April 2022.
