Susan Werner offers advice for aspiring singer/songwriters.

By Lesley Mahoney
Berklee.edu correspondent
October 31, 2007

Susan Werner offers advice on the business of songwriting.
Photo by Brit Woollard

Susan Werner is not afraid to take a stand, even if it's controversial. And well into her career as a singer/songwriter, with six CDs to her credit, it seems to work for her.

"For my particular career, I think it's okay to have a few people upset by what I do," she said. "It depends on what your relationship to commerce is and to other people. The fact that my business is small gives me a lot of freedom in terms of what I say. People will get up and walk out when I play political songs, for example. That comes with the territory."

Werner's songs have the same unabashedly honest quality as the advice she gave to budding musicians during a clinic at the David Friend Recital Hall. In her latest album, The Gospel Truth, she offers commentary on religion with a dose of wit. Among the three songs she played for the Berklee audience was "Our Father (The New, Revised Edition)."

"And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood/And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl," she sang. "Lord deliver us from politicians/Who drop Your name in every speech/As if they're your best friend from high school/As if they practice what they preach."

The album, which critics have hailed as "the world's first agnostic gospel album," represented a risk for Werner, but one that she embraced. "The idea of doing a religion project from the perspective of a nonbeliever seemed crazy. And good," she said.

Werner, whose style spans genres from folk and pop with twists of country and soul to jazz and bluegrass gospel, accompanies her clever and poignant songs with artful piano and guitar playing.

With humor and irony, Werner shared her varied musical styles, navigating the nuances of crossing the line in "Don't Work with Your Friends." She rendered an honest and heartbreaking message in "I Can't Be New," crooning: "I can be all these things for you, but I cannot be the girl you just discovered." A list song in the tradition of Cole Porter, whose "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" reminds us "That's why birds do it, bees do it/Even educated fleas do it," Werner's narrator offers, "Coffee, ham and eggs/I can be your diner/Tired aching legs/I'll be your recliner."

On the heels of a master class she offered the night before, the clinic was a forum for Werner to share her perspective on the music business and the art of songwriting. Confidence and hard work will get you far, she said.

"You have to have confidence in what you are doing, and more than anything, confidence in your ability to learn how to do it," she said. "You don't have to have it all figured out. But you have to believe you can figure it out, and you can figure it out as you go along. Do not fear mistakes. Do not fear falling short."

"You are young," she told the audience in the David Friend Recital Hall. "It's a long runway. You have lots of time. And freedom. So take all the risks."

Werner also emphasized the importance of taking charge of one's future. "I thought I was going to be discovered. I was the New World and Columbus was going to come find me any day," said Werner, noting that she soon realized she needed to market herself. "You've got to get in the boat and start paddling yourself."

"Don't be afraid to self-promote," she said. "Start. Get the following. That's what managers and agents want to see. Don't rely on them to build it from the ground up. You've got to build the first story yourself."

When it comes to writing music, Werner heads to her studio in Chicago, where there are no distractions. "I shut the door. I don't bring my phone with me. I don't have Internet," she said. "Once you pick up the call, it's over. You almost have to live a monastic life. It's a choice."

Students who participated in the master class appreciated Werner's critique of their work as well as practical advice in the field of songwriting.

Keppie Coutts, an aspiring singer/songwriter and professional music major in her last semester at Berklee, learned from Werner that while it's okay for lyrics to be ambiguous, the songwriter needs to be conscious of that ambiguity. "It doesn't mean you have to be clear, but you need to take responsibility for that," Coutts said.

Lisa Forkish, a third semester professional music major, was inspired by Werner's encouragement. "Her main line of the day was that you have to believe you can do it. Because there are so many people and it's such a crowded business, it's hard to have that attitude. But you just have to believe you can do it."

Singer/songwriter Susan Werner performs during a clinic. Photo by Brit Woollard