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Suzanne Vega On World Cafe

Suzanne Vega
Courtesy of the artist
Suzanne Vega

When you celebrate a 25th anniversary, you're supposed to mark the occasion with silver. When you celebrate a 30th anniversary, pearls are called for (or so they say).

If you're celebrating both a 25th and a 30th anniversary at the same time apparently you can mark the occasion with a tour! That's what my guest Suzanne Vega is doing; this year marks both the 30th anniversary of her album Solitude Standing and the 25th of 99.9F.

In the years since, Suzanne Vega has continued to release meaningful music – including Songs in Red and Gray, Beauty and Crime, Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles and, most recently, a song cycle called Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, based on the life and work of that celebrated author.

We are so lucky to have Suzanne Vega, along with her musical director Gerry Leonard, here to perform for us. Hear the complete session in the player above.

Copyright 2017 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.