Meet Suzie Graham | Country singer-songwriter and Patsy Cline tribute artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzie Graham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzie, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
Oooh, this is my thing haha 😁 I have lots of these that I love! I love the one by Henry Ford “whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right” but I’d have to say my favourite one is the one I wrote a song about called “Squeeze All the Juice Outta the Orange”. I was watching Reece Witherspoon on T.V one morning and she told a story of how she says this whenever she’s in another country, gotta squeeze all the juice outta New Zealand or wherever she is as she may not get to be there again. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and wrote the song which I was lucky enough to get to shoot a video for in Rome with an awesome director Ekaterina Moskvina. I squeezed all the juice outta Rome too. It’s a wonderful motto to live by, that’s my favourite, “Squeeze All the Juice Outta the Orange”, and hey, I just realised, “Carpe Diem” (seize the day) is Roman!
 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Being originally from Scotland, being a country singer was not all that common. My friends listened to dance music and my mother introduced me to country music at a young age. I always had a country twang in my voice and loved the stories in the songs so much, I taught them to my friends as we slapped our thighs along to these great songs. Going on to be the Patsy Cline tribute, I had a challenge in sourcing western wear and my amazing Godmother, my auntie Anna, made me my costumes. I’m proud that I get to keep Patsy’s music a live for younger generations to discover as I’m also such a big fan, it’s so awesome to be able to sing the songs me and my mother love to an appreciative audience. When I was invited to sing my original country songs in Nashville, I learned to always be polite and not ask outright, I streamed the Blue Bear Barn when I came home from gigs here in Scotland and told the guys there I was going to be in the area and would pop in to say “Hi” when the owner, Mike Elkins, asked if I wanted a spot. I’d want the world to know that all of my original songs are mostly true stories and as Harlan Howard said, country music is “three chords and the truth” so I’m sticking to the formula, I wrote a song called that too.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well that’s pretty easy, but being more of a country girl than a city girl, we’d of course have to start out in West Virginia. So Monday morning, we’d have a bite at Roy’s Service Center and Betty Lou’s Ol’ Garage Cafe in beautiful Berkeley Springs where Cindy puts my name up in the window every year for my birthday. At night, we’d head up to see all the good folks at the Troubadour where Sylvia and Tony, the new owners, would look after us and we’d get to see Joltin Jim’s beautiful wife Bertha. Tuesday, we could sample some delicious food at The Country Inn and take a wander through the State Park where you can have a dip in George Washington’s bath tub. Wednesday, we could take a trip into Martinsburg and eat at The Blue White where Patsy often frequented and check out some of the places the movie “Sweet Dreams” was filmed. There, we’d rent a vehicle and head to Tennessee but stop by the Patsy Cline Historic House in Winchester, Virginia on the way. Patsy’s brother-in-law Mel and the docent Cindy there, re-created a photo of me that Patsy had once did on the glider on the porch. In Nashville, we’d do all the Broadway bars including Tootsie’s and Printer’s Alley for food, there’s a cool English pub, The Fleet Street pub, that does a lovely fish and chips high tea, we could check out the Patsy Cline museum and see the glider Patsy and I both sat on when the museum opened before hopefully seeing a show that night at The Ryman. Thursday, we’d go to Music City Bar and Grill at Opryland for food and some classic country music and catch another show at The Grand Old Opry later that night and Friday, we’d pop in to see Mike from The Blue Bear Barn and hopefully catch up with him and Buster. That’d be a great week, I’m sure we could squeeze all that in.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to say, that would be the late, great Ms. Patsy Cline. She has been my idol since I was a kid and when people told me I sounded a little like her when I sang her songs, I became a tribute artist to her. I was contacted once by Patsy’s son who put a comment on my Facebook page saying that I did have a gift to sound like his mother and he appreciated that. Since then, because of Patsy, I was able to get to tour the States on several occasions after being invited to play at the Troubadour in West Virginia by Joltin’ Jim McCoy who discovered Patsy Cline at 14 years old. I was the last person to sing “I Fall To Pieces” to Jim before he sadly passed away. I have been so lucky to have met Patsy’s daughter Julie a couple of times and play in more States which led to me being able to get my original country songs heard and to play in Nashville at The Blue Bear Barn back in 2019. I will always forever be indebted to Patsy and to Joltin’ Jim for opening up the door for me in the U.S where I was most definitely welcomed with open arms, which I mention in my song “Nashville”

Facebook: Www.facebook.com/glasgowcountrygirl

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@suziegrahammusic

Other: Www.facebook.com/Patsyclinetribute

Image Credits
Joltin’ Jim McCoy Bertha McCoy and Julie Fudge Mike Elkins and Buster Clinard at The Blue Bear Barn