Suzi Ragsdale is one of the few artists to claim Nashville, Tennessee as her home town. Her father, singer, songwriter and recording artist, Ray Stevens, led a life that brought much excitement into their home. Surrounded by music, musicians and songs, Suzi spent a lot of time in recording studios and back stages. At home, when she wasn’t playing the piano or listening to her dad and his friends play music, she would sit for hours and sing along with an old Seeburg jukebox, filled with 45’s of the Everly Brothers, James Taylor, The Beatles, Ray Charles and all the hits of the day. Her influences also include Guy Clark, Van Morrison, John Hiatt and countless others.

At 11, she began singing publishing demos for Nashville songwriters. This was a good source of income for Suzi for the next 20 years or so. She’s also sung background vocals on other artists’ records, such as Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Randy Travis, Ian Tyson and many others.

At 15, she had an old upright piano moved into her bedroom and began writing songs. In 1991, after a few years working the reception desks for some of Nashville’s recording studios, Suzi secured a publishing contract and went to work full time, singing and writing. Her standards had been raised considerably by the company she’d been keeping, and she’d worked with the best – Guy Clark, John Hiatt, Darrell Scott and Verlon Thompson, to name a few.

Verlon and Suzi collaborated from 1990 to 1998, writing and recording independent albums for their own VnS Records. Their two duet CDs were very well received and many of the songs on them have been recorded by other artists such as Anne Murray, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Rodney Crowell, Lari White and Billy Dean.

From 1992 to the present, Suzi’s been collaborating with Darrell Scott, both on stage and in the studio. She’s sung on all of Darrell’s CDs, written with him and had him produce her first solo album, Future Past, to which he contributed his talents as an instrumentalist, along with Verlon and a host of other great musicians.

Suzi is scheduled to release her new E.P. "Best Regards" in the winter of 2009. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.