November 20, 2015

Friday night live at Transistor: singer-songwriters Sue Fink, Heather Styka and Emily White. Sound by Jon Monteverde.  

Sue Fink is a Chicago-based, nationally touring singer/songwriter who entertains audiences with her unique perspective on life and quirky tales of love gone awry. Her genre is acoustic/folk with a hint of jazz, a large dollop of humor, and a drop of sadness for good measure. Her songs have received national and local airplay on numerous folk shows, including Richard Milne’s “Local Anesthetic” (WXRT), Rich Warren’s “The Midnight Special” (WFMT), Lilli Kuzma’s “Folk Festival” (WDCB), and “The Razor and Di Show” (WLUW).

For this Transistor show, Sue performed selections from her upcoming project, which explores how the mementos we keep, and the memories we file away, allow us to “time-travel” back to specific points in our lives, and help us understand how we’ve arrived where we are today. Wow, that’s a mouthful! She also played some favorites and broke out the omnichord (electric autoharp with cheesy effects).

Visit Sue Fink’s website.

When listeners describe singer-songwriter Heather Styka as an “old soul,” the term applies to more than the wisdom beyond her years in her writing. Styka’s tunes have a vintage familiarity that draws inspiration from folk and Tin Pan Alley, but the vivid images of her lyrics render her songs as fresh, smart, and unexpected as they are “hum-able.” In addition to numerous songwriting awards and critical praise (including Kerrville New Folk Finalist, 2015), Styka’s 2011 release “Lifeboats for Atlantis” hit #3 on the national FOLK-DJ charts, and her newest album, “While This Planet Spins Beneath Our Feet,” charted for four months on FOLK-DJ. With her pure, soulful, “classically modern folky warble” and “nimble fingerpicked guitar” (Dispatch), Styka’s performances feel as candid as late night conversation and as comfortable as coming home.

Visit Heather Styka’s website.

Independent folk-rock touring singer/songwriter Emily White has been described as standing out “conspicuously from the pack … with her hushed, preternaturally haunting vocal delivery (and bewitching sense of indie-rock-informed melody” (Connect Savannah). She has released four albums to date, the most recent being the Kai Welch-produced LP “Staking Flags in the Valley.” In creating her show, she “adds an infusion of humor, audibly diverse musical influences and a truly singular sound that may leave even the most severe folk cynics entertained” (Asheville Citizen-Times). She is based in Chicago but travels regularly throughout the U.S., captivating crowds with her unique voice and favorite Martin guitar, bringing her Southern roots and Midwestern charm to each city she visits.

For this show at Transistor, Emily played songs off of “Staking Flags in the Valley” in their solo guitar/vocal form, as well as some newer material.

Visit Emily White’s website.