Today, the Spotlight shines On the innovative pedal steel guitar player Susan Alcorn.

While Susan got her start playing in country & western bands in Texas, she has taken the pedal steel into new and uncharted territories, exploring 20th-century classical music, improvisational jazz, and various world musics.

On her latest project, CANTO, Susan explored Chilean folk music and nueva canción, which translates as “new song” and refers to an intertwined musical and leftist social movement so important to the pro-Democracy organizations throughout Latin America over the last 50 years or more.

Released back in November 2023 on Relative Pitch Records, CANTO features Alcorn’s Septeto del Sur, a new ensemble featuring a cross-generational group of musicians versed in folk and improvisational traditions.

(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from the album CANTO by Susan Alcorn and Septeto del Sur)

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Dig Deeper

• Listen to CANTO by Susan Alcorn and Septeto del Sur on Bandcamp or your streaming platform of choice
• Visit Susan Alcorn at susanalcorn.net and on Instagram and Bandcamp
• Mourning and Hope: A Conversation with Susan Alcorn
• A Brief History of the Nueva Canción Movement
• La Nueva Canción: The New Song Movement in South America
• Susan Alcorn Live at The Orange Show Monument - April 23, 2022
• Be sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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