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70's tunes in the key of makin' love !

What happened was...It was supposed to be a one-time thing. A lark. A goof. We were an indie-rock/pop band called the Gentle Readers, and we wanted to do a whole show of cover songs --songs by other artists from the 60's and 70's. So we named ourselves after a friend, Susi French, and added the "Connection" not only for the purpose of arousing intrigue (as in 'what kind of a connection?') but to display our Faye Dunaway-esqe sensibility. We had three albums out of our own, and we all sort of harbored feelings of distrust at the least in any musician who put on a rented tuxedo (or worse yet, owned one) and played limp versions of mediocre songs for money. It seemed like selling out.

But we grew up in the 70's and always loved the music and so with reverence in our hearts, we learned a group of songs, and people came to our show, and they sang along, and everybody just really had a great time. What began in 2000 as a one-time-only event has blossomed into our main deal. We're The Susi French Connection full-time now, and in addition to our twice-a-year shows at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia, we've started playing weddings and parties of all sorts.

Our lineup of two guitars, keyboard, bass guitar, and drums is augmented by our fabulous background singers The Baguettes. From the beginning it has been the extraordinary harmony singing of Mary Rutt and Becky Shaw that makes the whole dang deal. Singer Susan Fitzsimmons, guitarist Lee Cuthbert (that's me - I'm the disembodied internet voice), drummer Linda Bolley and bassist Greg Partridge have been performing together as the Gentle Readers for many years, and keyboardist Allen Broyles is our newest member.

The Susi French Connection song list includes disco, classic country, rock and pop hits by everyone from Donna Summer to Neil Diamond to the Bee Gees, Abba and many others.We now think that maybe all the good songs have already been written (which is why we gave up writing our own). If you're a little too hip for a "wedding band," (and believe me, I never thought I'd play in one) if you want to hear great songs played by a rock band and not a lounge band, and if you like a little witty banter (we've known each other too long), then you're at the right Web site. If you don't have a superlative time at a Susi French show, you must be an evildoer. That's all I can say about it.

Listen Up!

Haven't been to a Susi French Connection Show? Here is a sampling from our live shows.....

 



band photos by Yvonne Boyd