photo by Jon Cohan
LISTEN // WATCH: “ALL IS QUIET”
Boston-based award-winning singer/songwriter Susan Cattaneo has released “All Is Quiet,” the title track and its accompanying performance video from her forthcoming LP due out on April 8th. With delicate, descending chords and an ascending melody, this song, the centerpiece of Cattaneo’s album, describes what it felt like to be a musician in those first few months of isolation.
"I tried to capture the uncertainty, worry, and frustration that many of us were experiencing,” she says. “The concept of silence became my metaphor for being creatively muted. The lyrics speak about 'an end.' For many of us in the music world, the year 2020 meant an end to many things: live performing, cowriting in person, and the tour life," she continues. "But in a broader sense, the song is about all of us coming to terms with a changed world. It is intentionally the first song on the album because it begins my journey from silence to song."
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With her powerful voice, captivating melodies, and finely-crafted lyrics, Susan Cattaneo is one of Boston’s most respected singer/songwriters. A compelling performer and vivid storyteller, her music blends folk, rock, and blues with a hint of country–call it New England Americana.
Following up on the success of her chart-topping double album The Hammer & The Heart, which charted #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, yielded a #1 song on folk radio, and was a top 10 album of 2017, All is Quiet features her signature lyrical and melodic craft as she brings her mastery to a quieter place. Embracing simplicity and vulnerability, the nine songs on All is Quiet speak to the personal nature of loss, relationships, and hope for the future. The album was recorded remotely during 2020 and features the beautiful guitar work of national talents Kevin Barry and Duke Levine and was co-produced with Lorne Entress.
Critics, audiences, and fellow artists have instantly connected with the personal nature of Cattaneo’s songs. She is a three-time Kerrville New Folk Finalist, a three-time nominee for Best Americana Artist at the Boston Music Awards, and she won the 2018 CT Folk Festival. Cattaneo has been a finalist or winner at some of the country’s most prestigious songwriting and music contests including the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Philadelphia Songwriters Project, the Wildflower Festival, the Independent Music Awards, the International Acoustic Music Awards, 5 Unsigned Only, the USA Songwriting Competition, the Mountain Stage New Song Contest, and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest.
She has opened for or shared the stage with Bill Kirchen, Mark Erelli, David Wilcox, Rose Cousins, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Livingston Taylor, Paula Cole, Huey Lewis and The News, Amy Grant, Travis Tritt, and more. Cattaneo is also an in-demand educator and collaborator. As a Songwriting Professor at the Berklee College of Music for the past 20 years, she has helped students work on over 15,000 songs in all musical genres and styles and mentored over 2,000 artists. She is also one half of the indie-folk duo called Honest Mechanik with Paul Hansen of The Grownup Noise. The duo launched their first album in July of 2020 and was nominated for Folk Act of The Year at the 2021 Boston Music Awards.
ALL IS QUIET TRACKLIST
ALL IS QUIET
TIME + LOVE + GRAVITY
BORROWED BLUE
BLACKBIRDS
BROKEN THINGS
DIAMOND DAYS
NO HEARTS HERE
HOLD ONTO HOPE
FOLLOW