Oh Susanna

Oh Susanna

Oh Susanna is the recording name used by Canadian-American alt-country musician Suzie Ungerleider. The project begins in 1995 and continues until 2021, after which she releases music under her own name. She is born in Northampton, Massachusetts, and raised in Vancouver, and later relocates to Toronto.

Background and name

Ungerleider performs as Oh Susanna, a name that alludes to the American folk song “Oh! Susanna” and is originally used to help protect her privacy. In 2021, she retires the stage name after learning more about the song’s racial history.

Career

She plays her first show under the Oh Susanna name at the Railway Club in Vancouver in July 1995. Her first independent release is a seven-song EP in 1997. After attending Blue Rodeo’s Stardust Picnic festival, she decides to move to Toronto. Her full-length debut, Johnstown, is released in 1999.

She tours Canada and the United States with Veda Hille and Kinnie Starr on what they call the “Scrappy Bitch Tour”. In 1999, at the 19th Genie Awards, she wins Best Original Song for “River Blue”, which appears in the film The Fishing Trip.

Recordings

Her later releases include Sleepy Little Sailor (2001), Oh Susanna (2003), Short Stories (2007), Soon the Birds (2011), Namedropper (2014), A Girl in Teen City (2017), and Decemberly (2018), a holiday EP made with Michael Johnston. Her recordings are issued on Stella, and her style is identified with folk and alt-country.