Lockdown Lemonade #4- The Spare Room by Susie Glaze

The Spare Room

It sat there, unnoticed and taken for granted since the renovation relegated it to pass-through territory. It wasn’t a destination anymore, just a glorified hallway. Until a small miracle happened.

I remember what the little room was like when we first saw the house, full of electronic equipment that didn’t match its old-world charm. I felt sorry for the little room. Meant to be a bedroom (back when the house was built in 1927), it was now collecting our furniture that didn’t find any other place in our house.

When the pandemic hit and changed our lives forever, I was faced with the need to innovate as an artist and educator and was collecting singing students online. I used whatever I could to bring students what they needed, guitar, piano. But my piano, a lovely Yamaha upright, was out in our front room. I wanted it closer, but how and where?

One day, the solution slowly dawning on me, I walked into the little spare room and looked at it with new eyes. Pieces of furniture were then pulled out, as two very strong guys with a roller dolly did the magic trick of moving my piano (up steps and on its side!) into the little spare room. It was a miracle! It fit so perfectly into the space that it looked meant to be. My new music room was unveiled.

­­With my guitar on a stand next to the piano bench, under a gorgeous hanging quilt, the computer to the side, my music room is now my new haven. And it was right there under my nose all these years. Because of necessity, I finally saw it. My life as an artist has blossomed in a way I never could have predicted, and all because of the miracle space, the little spare room.

– Susie Glaze

Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s FolkScene, and LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.” LA Weekly
www.susieglaze.com

In an attempt to begin bringing us together during these difficult days, some of our long-time members have shared their experiences dealing with Covid, Lockdown, Boredom, Creativity, Bubbles, etc. We intend to post a column a week at 10 AM Pacific on Mondays, so be on the lookout! For guidelines and submission details, please contact Julie Zipperer at juliez@far-west.org or Marlynn Block at marlynn@far-west.org. Submissions will be posted based on approval from the Lockdown Lemonade Committee.