Austin, Texas native Suzanna Choffel is bringing her three-piece band to College Hill Saturday, September 11. Performing her unique brand of “jazz-infused soul pop.”

Suzanna was the winner of the Best Indie Band category at the Austin Music Awards-SXSW 2009, and also came in 2nd place in the International Songwriting Competition. Her 2006 release, “Shudders and Rings” has brought her attention, and she’s been pegged as an artist “worth watching.”

She composes utilizing a variety of music styles. Her songs weave a rich tapestry of colorful emotions, both lyrically and musically. She was nice enough to take time from her busy schedule to talk to me about her music, rainstorms, and . . . archery.

Suzanna, you remind me a lot, visually, of Shawn Colvin.

Oh, cool, thank you, that’s a huge compliment, I love Shawn.

How would you describe the lyrical content of your songs?

I’ve noticed in some of my songs there’s kind of like a theme of struggle against something . . . your own personal independence in a relationship, your own struggle with some of your own habits. I would say bittersweet kind of describes a lot of my lyrics because they’re sweet, but they always have a dark side to them.

How about the musical style?

I’m influenced by a lot of different things. I listened to World music in College, Reggae and Brazilian music and African music . . . I love jazz, I love hip hop, I love pop. So I can try to make a really good strong song that fits with strong lyrics, and a strong melody, where the music is also able to move people.

Are there singer/songwriters that you admire that may have influenced your writing?

Paul Simon . . . Ani DiFranco, Erykah Badu, I love her sense of funk and jazz and hip-hop inflections . . . lately I’ve been into Roberta Flack . . .I love someone who can tell a really sweet story or emotional kind of experience, that really moves you with the music as well.

“RainCloud” is my favorite song of yours so far, I love the chorus, ‘drip, drip, drip, little raindrops fall.’ Is it safe to assume you wrote this during a thunderstorm?

I wrote it after a long summer of lots of rain . . . the summer of 2008, it was so rainy in Austin, it was ridiculous. So, yes, there was a rain cloud following me around, that’s what inspired that, it probably was raining when I wrote it, actually.

When is your new album, “Steady eye, Shaky bow” due out?

Steady eye, Shaky bow is from a line in “Archer,” when I say, ‘o archer, you shot too low, you have a steady eye, but a shaky bow.’ Yeah, it’s due out in November, so I’m just trying to get out there more, part of why I’m coming to Kansas . . .  just trying to get out of Texas a little bit more into the Midwest, Southwest, East, all over.

[ August 2010 | by Robin Cremer | photo courtesy Suzanna Choffel on Facebook ]