If you go
› Where: Songbirds Guitar Museum, 35 Station St. (North), 41 Station St. (South)› For more information: 423-531-2473ROBIN GRANT AND THE STANDARD› When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 (N)› Admission: $20 general admission, $35 VIPAN EVENING WITH SUZY BOGGUSS› When: 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 (N)› Admission: $35 general admission, $60 meet-and-greetRUMOURS: A FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE WITH RUNNIN DOWN A DREAM› When: 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 (S)› Admission: $20 in advance, $22 day of showEG KIGHT› When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 (N)› Admission: $15THE DIRTY DOORS: A TRIBUTE WITH THE AFTERNOONERS OPENING› When: 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 (S)› Admission: $12 in advance, $15 day of show
To help get into being-a-singing-star mode, Suzy Bogguss starts putting together her wardrobe.
"It's like spring cleaning," she says. "I like to freshen things up, or I might bedazzle something."
But she sometimes has to keep that in check. Recently, for example, she bedazzled some flowers on a blouse, but when she took a few steps back and took a fresh look at the blues, greens and pinks, she realized there was a problem.
"It looked like My Little Pony, so I had to take that off," she says with a laugh.
Suzy Bogguss / Facebook.comBogguss returns to Songbirds Guitar Museum on Friday, Feb. 15, for a solo show. She has recently been on the road with friends Terri Clark and Pam Tillis as part of the Chicks with Hits Tour. The idea for the tour came after the three ended up picking and singing until 3 in the morning after attending a destination wedding.
Since she and Tillis are independently managed, putting the tour together was easy, but Clark had to go a different route, Bogguss says.
"She's on a label, but I think she just put her foot down and said, 'No, I'm doing this.'"
Bogguss says she loved sharing the stage with the other two and playing on their songs. It was a chance to explore, learn a little bit, basically have some fun and even try out some new ideas.
"It was refreshing to sing someone else's songs, plus there is the potential to create with someone you trust and are comfortable with."
Bogguss has also been writing new songs in hopes of putting together a new record. But while she has plenty of new material, she hasn't found the right mix or inspiration that binds them together.
"I keep waiting for this cosmic tap on the shoulder," she says, "and it has happened so many times for me in the past, but so far (now) it hasn't happened.
"I have a bunch of songs, but they just aren't working right as an album. I'm still an album believer. I like the idea of a record that says, 'This is where I'm at.'"
She also loves playing in smaller rooms like Songbirds, where the audience is close enough to have a conversation, though she doesn't advocate talking over her music, she jokingly points out.
"You get that living room feeling. I'm doing a lot of that now. It's the way I came up."
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.