Susan Gibson was born in Fridley, Minnesota, and grew up in Amarillo, Texas. She sang in church and school choirs for 15 years until she performed Suzanne Vega's "Gypsy" in the Amarillo High School talent show. Hooked, she learned the entire catalogues of Vega, Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Shawn Colvin and eventually began writing her own songs.

After a stint in forest ranger school in Missoula, Montana in 1992 and 1993, she discovered open-mic nights and developed her own solo gigs and eventually joined The Groobees. They performed and released two CDs over five years until May 2001, after two band members' wives had children and a third wanted to get off the road.

The Dixie Chicks' version of Gibson's "Wide Open Spaces" made it the best-selling country song of all time, giving her the artistic freedom to write, perform, and record with few constraints.

The new CD, Chin Up, features 14 new Gibson songs (a.k.a. SusanSongs) and stellar supporting performances by guitarist Michael O'Connor and fiddler Eleanor Whitmore. The CD is filled with straightforward, peaceful sounding, likable songs whose topics range from weariness to yearning to love to memories. Gibson remains boots-and-jeans down to earth, as unpretentious as a puppy. Her songs are often autobiographical and sometimes poke gentle fun at herself while exploring her feelings. As she says, "I'm pretty darned entertained by my character flaws."

http://www.susansongs.com/