Suzy Thompson pays tribute to songwriter Paul Siebel

During the depths of the pandemic in the fall of 2020, Suzy Thompson found solace playing music softly for herself. 

"I started staying up after everyone else went to bed, sitting in the living room playing guitar and singing, like being a teenager again," Thompson said. 

A Berkeley guitarist, fiddler and vocalist best known as a catalytic force on the Bay Area roots music scene, Thompson has spent the past four decades immersed in old-time Appalachian music, blues and the celebratory sounds of Louisiana via various bands devoted to Cajun music and zydeco. 

But growing up in the 1970s she was enamored with the era's singer/songwriters, particularly Paul Siebel, a little-remembered figure whose tunes were recorded by everyone from Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris to Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

Many of Siebel's best-known songs were part of Thompson's budding café repertoire, including "Louise," "Long Afternoons," "Any Day Woman," and "Nashville Again." During her late-night reveries, "those songs bubbled up," she said. 

Like musicians everywhere looking for a glint of connection in those dark, gig-less days, she decided to livestream a concert dedicated to Siebel's songs via Quarantine Happy Hour, playing his debut album, 1970's Woodsmoke & Oranges, track by track. Though she only posted about the show a few days before the broadcast on April 29, 2021, somehow word reached Siebel, who had dropped off the musical map decades ago. 

He was 83 and dying of pulmonary fibrosis in rural Maryland, and way off the grid, "with no cellphone and no computer," Thompson said. "But friends of friends of friends who knew Paul heard I was going to do this show and fetched him to their house so he could watch it. He loved the concert. He laughed, cried and sang along. And the next day we connected on the phone." 

Thompson had figured Siebel was still alive since she hadn't heard otherwise, but never dreamed he would end up watching the livestream. "I would have been so nervous if I'd known," she said. "I never thought I would ever get to meet him, much less that he would reach out to me. We ended up having four hour-long conversations before he died in 2022. I asked him questions about his life, about music, and he answered some questions about songs." 

From pandemic livestream to new album

The concert got such a positive response that Thompson went into the studio to record Suzy Sings Siebel, a gorgeous project showcasing his songs.

For fans who know her as a leading force invigorating the American roots music scene, the album is revelatory, revealing Thompson as a savvy song stylist capable of evoking many shades of gratitude, longing and rueful regret. 

Joined by her husband, bluegrass guitar great Eric Thompson, and bassist Mark Schatz, just off the road with banjo star Béla Fleck, she celebrates the release of Suzy Sings Siebel with a Calliope-produced concert at St. Alban's Episcopal Church on Sunday afternoon.

It's a full-circle moment, connecting her with one of her early sources of inspiration. Siebel released two critically hailed studio albums in the early 1970s featuring master string players such as David Bromberg, David Grisman, Richard Greene, Clarence White and Buddy Emmons.

Thompson didn't hear them at the time, but several years later at 19, when she started playing with Hoyle Osborne, "he got to know Paul Siebel, and he showed me the songs," she recalled.

"I learned so many of them. Three years later I went down the Cajun and old-time music rabbit hole," she added. "By that time, Siebel was off the scene. He had a drinking problem, stage fright and didn't like the life of a touring musician. He retired and disappeared." 

Thompson's legacy at the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention

In many ways Thompson turned her old-time music rabbit hole into a teeming village. Her most consequential project was reviving the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention in 2001 after three dormant decades.

Under her leadership, the event grew into a four-day festival with jam sessions, workshops, talks and performances at venues around Berkeley. By cultivating community support, she was able to bring in artists from across the country who would stay with local families.

Last month, the 24th annual BOTMC took place for the first time without Thompson in the lead, though she's still deeply involved and performed with old-time/bluegrass legend Alice Gerrard. 

"It was a slightly impulsive move to step away, but I felt like I wanted to explore, to have more time for my own music before I get too old to play," she said.

"I'm painfully aware that my ability to play won't last forever. I'm enjoying doing more writing. And the festival is in excellent financial shape. This is a rough time for festivals and cultural institutions. Funding is drying up and shifting. With the Convention we have enough flexibility that we can adapt." 

She continues to evolve herself, and is deep into planning a second volume of Suzy Sings Siebel.

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