Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega (suzannevega.com) usually heads straight to the compost heap for song ideas. "I have a compost heap of at least 50 notebooks dating back many years, and I pull from those notebooks when writing a new album," Vega says. She starts the process with a theme in mind then heads straight to that pile of notebooks to look for ideas to fit the theme. Some of her songs take years to emerge: "Lucinda" started as an idea more than 25 years ago.
It's a pretty rich compost heap that can produce "Tom's Diner (youtube.com/watch?v=j4jtIDaeaWI)" and "Luka (youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0)." Vega wrote "Tom's Diner" on a walk after leaving the diner, further proof of how movement improves the creative process. She's also a voracious reader and cites James Joyce as a big influence.
Suzanne Vega's latest album is Flying With Angels (svega.lnk.to/Flying_With_Angels)on Cooking Vinyl Records (cookingvinyl.com).