About Me
Chuck Suchy (pronounced soo-key) is the real thing--one of the foremost musical voices of the American Great Plains. A working farmer, born and raised and at home in the blue hills along the Missouri River south of Mandan, North Dakota, Chuck Suchy has a love for making music that goes back to his childhood. Throughout his youth and young adult life, he found time to perform in the area's halls, clubs and lounges, singing and playing guitar and accordian. In 1982 a major event occurred when an acquaintance gave him a tape of Canadian troubadour Stan Rogers singing his classic Field Behind The Plow. "It was at that moment" Suchy says "that I realized that the life I was immersed in was worthy of song." He began writing his own ballads and songs, slipping them into his performances and it was soon obvious that he was on to something quite unique -sensitive and honest portrayals of contemporary American farm life, but from an insider's point of view.In the decade since, Chuck Suchy has continued to write, sing and record songs evoking and extolling the Great Plains region and lifestyle. His themes have expanded to include songs about human relationships, spirituality, motorcycles, and even sailing. The Plains have seen a lot of change over this time, including farm crises, loss of population, and a major restructuring of the agricultural economy. Chuck remains an astute observer of it all and his songs chronicle not only the events, but the emotions and feelings that accompany such upheaval and change.CROSSROADS MAGAZINE has called Chuck "…one of the shining lights of the Upper Great Plains." His music and stories speak to everyone -urban and rural- because laughter, love, gain and loss are common human property.Rod Kennedy, founder of the Kerrville Folk Festival: "If he's not one of the great American songwriters, I don't know who is."Rich Warren, Midnight Special, WFMT Chicago: "One of the great undiscovered treasures of contemporary American folk music... a refreshing divergence from the trend..."Folk Roots Magazine (UK): "…natural grace inspired by love of the land…an acoustic opportunity to drift away to a simpler lifestyle…"Jim Tarbox, St. Paul Pioneer Press: "… an unerring ear for sounds of the prairie…sounds like my great-aunt and -uncle's Iowa farmhouse smelled -hard-soap/fresh bread/tractor grease…FOUR STARS"Mike Flynn, the Folk Sampler: "…songs filled with nice people as well as hope and love."Dirty Linen Folk and World Music Magazine: "Ya gotta love this guy, he writes a fine song, plays a solid guitar, sings with rare confidence, and lives his material. …insights on the interior of human life."Acoustic Guitar Magazine: "…his mature voice hovers over the Great Plains like heat ripples above summer blacktop. This is country music with its fingers in the soil and its heart heading down the highway on an Indian motorcycle."Boston Globe: "A man with a rich wide-open-spaces voice."
