Editor’s Note: Taylor Ashton joins the Country Living Fair and its “Folk at the Fair” lineup, presented by BGS, on Friday (Oct. 2) in Rhinebeck, New York. Below, he shares the story behind this special performance.
“Susanna” is a song about seeing an old friend making life choices that cause you to question how well you know them – hence the refrain “Guess I didn’t know you like I know you now.” The song is about witnessing an affair, and it’s based loosely on a real situation, but the names and details have been changed to protect the innocent. As a musician I’ve seen plenty of my friends, acquaintances, and colleagues (and myself) get into situations where love and art and work get muddied up together, and people can get hurt for complex reasons that straddle those worlds. I think probably anybody reading this can remember something in their life that is reminiscent of what’s going on between the characters in this song.
“My co-writer and producer on this track, Benjamin Lazar Davis, showed this to Maya Hawke while he was producing an album of hers, and I was so honored that she asked to sing on the studio version. She later covered the song on tour, so this is technically not even the song’s debut. I feel doubly spoiled that for this live version, I got to sing this as a duet with the great Madison Cunningham, with my wife Rachael Price rounding it out to three-part harmonies. Funny enough, the ‘studio’ version that’s on Spotify and on the album was actually mostly recorded outside in the forest, whereas this ‘acoustic’ version is in a real studio – Ben’s awesome new spot in LA. So, we got it a little backwards in a way that makes me smile. Enjoy!” — Taylor Ashton
