West of East profile picture

West of East

About Me

Simply put, it is two guitars, an amazing voice, and a bunch of great stories about life and its many meanings!

West of East is a mostly acoustic duo comprised of Sara Moilanen and Tim Suchocki, who's music borrows elements from Folk, Country, Rhythm & Blues, and Rock & Roll. They have had a successful early career playing and creating lasting impressions in the Milwaukee and greater Wisconsin area.

Sara Moilanen (Vocals and Guitar) has been involved in music, one way or another, for her whole life. It was in her early twenties however, that she began to discover her talents as a guitar player and songwriter, writing songs about all aspects of life and relationships. For nearly ten years she developed those talents while writing and performing music with the PeaceHill Musicians in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her songs demonstrate a stark honesty and passion that walk the delicate line between confidence and vulnerability. Her knack for songwriting coupled with her powerful yet velvety voice makes you feel every emotion. In a review of one of her performances with The PeaceHill Musicians, it was once written in the Miami Herald that “Sara can sing the loneliness out of a Roy Orbison Song.”

As Tim developed as a lead guitar player he began to create additional layers and add textures to many of Sara’s existing songs. At this point they began writing songs together and performing at open stages and acoustic music events around Milwaukee as “Sara and Tim.” Inspired by a lyric written by Sara’s longtime friend and Musical mentor, the late Boe Harbison, (“I asked someone where I might find peace, they said somewhere South and West of East, found by those who search the least…”) Sara and Tim began playing under the name “West of East.”

For Booking contact us by clicking HERE

Or for more information in general contact us by clicking HERE

Signup for our Mailing List

* required

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/10/2007
Band Website: http://www.westofeastmusic.com
Band Members: Sara Moilanen - Guitar & Vocals
Tim Suchocki - Lead Guitar
Influences: John Prine
Tom Waits
Roy Orbison
Shawn Colvin
Norah Jones
Jeff Tweedy
Guy Clark
Boe Harbison
Lucinda Williams
Neil Young

Sounds Like:
Type of Label: Unsigned

My Blog

Music Heals

It's sounds pretty cliche to say that music heals, but when something becomes cliche it is usually true. What made me start thinking this way was an experience I had almost 4 years ago. I had taken a ...
Posted by on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:49:00 GMT

Do You Hear, Hear That Echo, Echo?

In a previous post, I was discussing moving into my home studio and left off at the point where the room was ready to be acoustically treated.  In this post I'll discuss how I have solved some of the...
Posted by on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:57:00 GMT

Songwriting Part II

In an earlier post, I mentioned that when I first started out as a songwriter my songs were written by spilling out whatever came into my head. Typically, there were no revisions. I felt that re-writi...
Posted by on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:16:00 GMT

Practice Makes Perfect. Or Does it?

Everybody knows that practice makes perfect, right? Of course they do, but one of the things that I am learning in my journey as a guitar player is that it is truly the QUALITY of practice that matt...
Posted by on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:24:00 GMT

My Songwriting Journey

In the beginning of my songwriting, most of my songs were just raw emotion. Hastily scribbled down lyrics written in the moment of feverish emotion. At that time, between ages 19 and oh, about 22, I...
Posted by on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Moving Into My Home Studio

Hello, my name is Tim and I am a shop-a-holic. Yes, its true, I have anequipment buying problem. Interestingly, it always shows itselfwhenever I am in a rut with my guitar playing. The downside is tha...
Posted by on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:47:00 GMT

The Best of Both Worlds

As some of you may know, I spent the better portion of the 90's and through 2005 working at a photography studio. I fancy myself to be a semi-professional photographer. I've studied the ins and outs ...
Posted by on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:15:00 GMT

November News

In this IssueUpdate  What's going on?Tim's Birthday Celebration  How old? You'll have to come and find out!Notes from the Studio  Sara's thoughts on our first recording project. Update  What's goi...
Posted by on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:00:00 GMT

August News

August is shaping up to be a very busy month. We have some exciting shows booked, we are begining work on our first album and designing a new website. Amidst all of this we are working on some new son...
Posted by on Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:52:00 GMT

Thanks For Your Help

We would like to say thanks to all of you that came out on Sunday to help support Deb Martell and her fight against Leukemia.  The benefit was a great success and the hundreds of people in attend...
Posted by on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:41:00 GMT