The Dixie Chicks can attest to songwriter Susan Gibson's talent.
The popular country group took her "Wide Open Spaces" to the top of the charts for four weeks in 1998.
Now, Gibson is coming to Auburn Thursday, Oct. 18 to showcase material herself.
The Sundilla music series provides a forum for up-andcoming folk and bluegrass artists to perform in front of a live audience.
"I love performing there," said Dave Potts, local singer/songwriter who played at Sundilla this past summer and recorded a live CD.
"In a bar, people are there to talk to their friends and hang out, so you really have to convince them to listen to your music," he said. "But at Sundilla, they come just to listen to music, so they're there for you already, so it's a lot easier to connect to the audience and tell them the stories behind your songs."
Potts praised the type of artists brought in by Sundilla.
"A lot of the artists that Sundilla brings in most people don't know of," he said. "There's people like Eric Taylor and David Wilcox; lots of people that no one would know their names, but if you're in the scene, they're great."
Gibson began making music in 1997, but she said music has always been a part of her life.
"I grew up singing all the time in choirs, and I started playing guitar when I was a senior in high school," Gibson said. "I started writing when I was a freshman in college, just kind of doing it recreationally and performing at open mics and that sort of thing."
Singers such as Melissa Etheridge and Natalie Merchant influenced Gibson's music.
"I started writing after listening to some of what I would call contemporary folk singers," she said. "At first I was learning and playing songs that I could emulate before I really got into acoustic-type music."
Bailey Jones, volunteer at Sundilla since 1998, is in charge of booking artists.
"I saw (Gibson) at the Folk Alliance Conference and was very impressed," Jones said. "I made a point to introduce myself to her and to her agent, not long after that I got an email from her agent." Booking a show, however, is a long process.
"We actually finalized the booking of this show in August 2011, and she'll finally take the stage in October 2012," Jones said.
"I really am excited [to perform in Auburn]," Gibson said. "I really, really am; I've only been to Auburn one other time last spring, and we played at a really cool bookstore."
Gibson said Sundilla's repuation enticed her into coming.
"They're such a reputable house concert that have been steadily on our radar for a long time and have probably been pretty steadily booked," Gibson said. "I know they do a really good job over there -- we've known about them probably for longer than they've known about me."
The adventure aspect is something Gibson said she loves about touring.
"One of my favorite things about performing and about the travel is not knowing what you're getting into and getting to be surprised every day when you go to work," she said. "I love playing in a venue that is geared for songwriters -- it's so effortless; you just go in there and the people, they might not know who I am, but they like listening to songwriters, they like listening to the stories and they give you all the energy that you put out there and more."
The first Sundilla concert was in July 1993.
"In early 1996, the series found a permanent home at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which offered their space for no charge," Jones said. "They still let us use it for free and that's crucial for us; we are a nonprofit series, so every dime that comes in the door goes straight to that night's performer."
Jones said it is great working with the performers.
"I've been lucky enough to see her twice before, and it will be good to see her performing for an audience that has never heard her before," Jones said. "So many of them have become much more than performers -- they're friends, and we're always getting to hear great music that you really can't hear anywhere else."
Jones said Sundilla is always looking for more volunteers.
"We have volunteers helping with unloading, setting up, hanging posters around town," she said. "In the end, all of our volunteers do a little bit of everything, a little of whatever it takes to pull off a concert."
AUUF is located at 450 Thach Ave., and the price of admission is $12.
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