Linda Sussman

THE EARLY DAYS... 

Linda Sussman began playing music at a very young age—recorder, accordian and clarinet before she switched to guitar and found her voice was yet another instrument...the rest is history! 

Growing up in a Jewish ghetto in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Queens, NY, Linda got her first taste of vocal training singing with the Queens Boroughwide Chorus, an audition chorus of Junior High School kids from NYC's borough of Queens. In High School, she went on to sing with NYC's prestigious All City Chorus, also an audition chorus but with voices selected from across New York City's five boroughs. 

But Linda left her choral training behind when she set off to college in upstate NY and found herself fronting a folk-rock cover band, SILVER SHADOW, all while playing her one guitar, a 12-string acoustic Epiphone. (The band: Linda, vocals and guitar; Joe Sitomer, lead guitar; Larry Doyle, bass; Steve "Boogs" Schoenbach, drums.) Covering songs from The Eagles to Joni Mitchell to David Bromberg  and more, Silver Shadow played a range of venues in the Binghamton and Johnson City area, including the university itself. 

Post-college and back downstate in the NY Metro area, Linda landed solo gigs with her faithful 12-string at what was then a plethora of wine-and-cheese clubs before reaching out to two other musicians and forming the women's trio CHOICE,  with Peggy Rodrigues on jazz guitar and Lisa Deuel on flute and piano. The trio began incorporating Linda's original music into their sets and played a wide range of venues across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island, from coffeehouses to bars to events for social justice. CHOICE had a great run for a number of years before Lisa went south for the warmer climate, leaving Linda and Peggy to recast as SUSSMAN & RODRIGUES. The duo moved forward with a mix of covers and Linda's originals, playing in the NY Metro area to audiences of all sizes, from listening rooms in NYC to large events such as Brooklyn Pride in Prospect Park and concerts in support of the women's movement.  

Linda eventually returned to her solo roots, spending much time gig'ing in NYC's West Village, including a steady spot at Kenny's Castaways. But life is often full of curves and Linda was forced into a 10-year hiatus from all things music while caring for aging parents and dealing with some health issues of her own. Thankfully, she found her way back in 2017 and re-emerged at full strength and with a renewed commitment. Pre-pandemic, Linda was even back on NYC's Bleecker Street playing the iconic stage at The Bitter End, enjoying that venue multiple times with a number of her studio musicians!

And now with five full-length albums released since 2018 and a handful of singles, Linda shows no signs of slowing down. Hopefully, her muse is here to stay! (Musicians who have recorded with Linda: Mike Nugent, lead guitar—electric/acoustic, dobro, bass; Kevin Kelly, bass; Gabrielle Schavran, cello; Cosmo Mallardi, bass; Mark Mancini, piano; Cindy Quart, piano; Richie Guerrero, percussion; Shawn Murray, drums)