Big Sweet Baby

Enjoy our new music video "FORVER YOURS" for Valentine's Day, from our new album "Blue Train".  The song features harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy.  
Happy Valentine's Day! ❤

Susie Blue & The Lonesome Fellas ft Dominic Halpin- " Forever Yours"

Susie Blue And The Lonesome Fellas - It's A Good Day

This is just for fun, have a Happy Halloween!

Susie Blue And The Lonesome Fellas - Monster Mash

“It’s a hoppin’ lil’ number, just played on today’s show!  Happy Holidaze!” – Abe Perlstein, Producer & Host  97.3 KEBF-FM | 107.9 KZSR-FM  The Rock Community Radio
Hot off the press and already in it’s first week of radio rotation,  this upbeat and sassy blues tune has been rockin’ the airwaves on national and international stations, showcasing the best of Chicago with a rollicking horn section featuring the Green Mill’s late night horn maestro Eric Schneider and veteran brass man Jack Gallagher.  Parisian guitarist Martin Gioani  lays in some swingin’ licks from across the pond, and Susie Blue’s sassy vocal tops it all off,  telling the roving story of the jaunty Boogie Woogie Santa.  This song will get your toes tappin’ and is a refreshing break from the usual nostalgic holiday offerings… it’s lively fun, sometimes irreverent, and definitely a merry and romping Christmas frolic.

Susie Blue And The Lonesome Fellas - BOOGIE WOOGIE SANTA CLAUS

Graj Skrzypku Graj

Reindeer in Rhythm - A Swingin' Holiday Tune with Solitaire Miles & Martin Gioani
"Take a sleigh ride back to the golden age of holiday jazz with the cheerful original tune "Reindeer in Rhythm." Evoking the timeless charm of classic Christmas recordings by the crooners of yesteryear, Chicago's Solitaire Miles brings her smooth, classic vocals to this delightful Christmas tale about Santa and his reindeer. Joined by Parisian gypsy jazz guitarist and arranger Martin Gioani, they create a playful frolic that enchants listeners young and old alike. Together they blend nostalgic rhythm with a touch of Christmas magic - where Santa swings, the reindeer jump, and the season shines in full Technicolor." - JM REID Chicago's Music Guide

Solitaire Miles - Reindeer in Rhythm

I wrote this tune with my cousin Solitaire Miles for Krampus Nacht  

The Krampus Tango

Enjoy our new Halloween single featuring Eric Schneider on sax

Susie Blue & The Lonesome Fellas "The House is Haunted"

"Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellows keep up their habit of genre hopping good times with this fantastically fun take on "Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me" that recalls the Jump Blues sounds of the 40s so effortlessly that it sounds timeless.   It is a perfect addition to any holiday playlist!” - Paul Abella - Music Director WDCB Radio Chicago

“Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas skillfully blend Rockabilly, Country and Swing with their new Christmas song "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me", transcending all genres. The song appeals to all ages with its toe tapping infectious beat, and a flare of nostalgia for those that remember the times when Big Bands performed at dance halls across the nation. This is Americana at its musical best!”  - Scott Wikle, My Kind of Country

"Such fun!  Rockabilly spiced with some funky Blues licks and a hint of Country.  It should keep everyone toasty on a frosty night." - Rob Hoff, WQLN Jazz Flight

"THIS is the song for Christmas 2018! It's got Blues, Western Swing, and Jazz. I like it, very much so!"  - Brian Clardy WKMS Radio 

"The new Xmas track from Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas is destined to be a seasonal Classic. Paying tribute to all the original forms of American Music  Rockabilly, Western Swing, and pure American Blues, "Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me" is my pick for 2018's seasonal hit of the year!" - Rockin' Ritchie Ritch - Rollin' Rhythm Roundup

"This tune reminds me of the Elvis Sun Music era... with Rock, which was Blues based. That being said, I think it should be enjoyed across ALL genres... especially with that Yakity Sax for the Jazzers.  Nice Holiday Dance Track!"  - Kate Smith of Kate Smith Promotions

Susie Blue & The Lonesome Fellas - Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me

We were in the studio recording our new album and took a moment out to have fun laying this tune out, just for kicks.

Henry Mancini also wrote the lyric, for the great jazz singer Sarah Vaughan

Susie Blue & the Lonesome Fellas "Peter Gunn Theme"

Here's a bit of Chicago Jazz history for you... I recently got this remix of "Lush Life" which I recorded in 1995 with swing violinist Johnny Frigo and pianist Joe Vito. It was recorded on 1 inch tape at Southport Records and I had the reel, after all of these years, finally transferred to digital and had it remixed and remastered by Steve Yates. For the past 24 years I have been lugging around these huge 1 inch reel tapes :)
Anyhow it was my first jazz album and it featured Johnny and Joe, along with other great Chicago musicians including Von Freeman and Willie Pickens.
This track was recorded by Joanie Pallatto, and there was NO AUTOTUNE back then, not at Southport at least, so this is my honest vocal with no tuning and no dubs. I was a student at the DePaul school of music at the time and this was my very first jazz track .... just as we recorded it, and I hope you enjoy!
Michael Raynor is playing drums and John Whitfield was on bass.

"Lush Life" with swing violinist Johnny Frigo 1995 remastered

Howdy Y’all!   Susie Blue & the Lonesome Fellas has just released a convivial and nostalgic Cowboy Swing single, “Oceans of Tears”

Originally recorded and performed by Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1951, Susie Blue’s vocalist Solitaire Miles sings this kitchy Cowboy duet with Texas Vocalist Keith Weber from the Austin band Cadillac Drive.

The tune opens with Weber’s authentic Cowboy baritone, giving the song it’s Western clout and Miles chimes in with a smooth swing vocal, with just enough twang to make you think you’re listening to the soundtrack of a Silver Screen Western.

They are accompanied by guitarist Neal Alger who plays a retro country guitar, Chris Bernhardt keeps the grove on stand up bass, and swing drummer Phil Gratteau who sets up  a nostalgic cadence perfect for the genre.  Pedal Steel Maestro TC Furlong gives the track a genuine feeling with his antique pedal that originally belonged to Buddy Emmons!

“We recorded this tune in Chicago with our band” Miles explains,  “and then I was able to email the track down to Austin and Keith  harmonized along with me in a studio there, and then sent it back,  so he never left the ranch! We have recorded 2 duets together to date,  and have never met in person!”

No matter that Miles and Weber have not met in person, they are a swinging pair, bringing a bona fide big screen Cowboy sound to this tune.  Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford had recorded a long list of Western duets, let’s hope that this pair keeps going too! – JM Reid

You can listen and download the tune here –  https://susiebluelonesomefellas.bandcamp.com/track/oceans-of-tears

Oceans of Tears

Bye Bye Blues 

Drivin' Nails in my Coffin

Enjoy our LIVE version of "Blue Xmas" featuring a stellar cast with TC Furlong on pedal, Shane Guse on fiddle, Joe Policastro on Mass, Martin Gioani on guitar, Phil Gratteau on drums with vocalists Susie Blue and Jen Zias

Susie Blue & The Lonesome Fellas - Blue Christmas

"Vocalist Solitaire Miles comes out of the Patsy Cline tradition. She sings Western swing material with warm highs and holds her lows neatly. There's a jazziness about Miles's phrasing, but she holds fast to a sound reminiscent of roadside bars where just three people are left near closing at the pinball machine. Solid accompaniment by jazz-influenced sax, fiddle, guitar, slide guitar, piano, bass and drums.  I'm a Fool to Care says it all.  Same goes for I'll Never Be Free."  Wall Street Journal
 
"Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas includes some of Chicago's best Jazz and Country players.  The group is pure Cowboy Jazz, and Miles adds a lively vocal style that brings to mind a winning blend of Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday. " - Downbeat Magazine
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"Savvy souls know there's a big difference between Country music and Western music. Western Swing band Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas were rightfully  honored in Fort Worth at the Academy of Western Artists' 20th annual Will Rogers Awards for 'Best Western Swing Song'" - Billboard Magazine
 
"Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas is a new album of Western Swing which  is popular with many folks,  and I do think this group does it very well,  it's a lovely album." -Marie Crichton BBC Radio
 

"You can't listen to western swing and not smile, it's impossible not to smile, it's feel good music.  Her voice is wonderful, what an instrument." - Michael Feldman, NPR

 

"Solitaire Miles may be best known for jazz, but the vocalist is on a new adventure involving Western Swing leading Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas.  The Academy of Western Artists awarded the band with Western swing song of the year. " 

- Jessi Virtusio, Chicago Tribune

 

"In her home base of Chicago Solitaire Miles boasts an avid following as a singer equally at home with jazz and swing. Given that combination of styles, it’s no surprise—but an unexpected delight—to hear what she can do with western swing, which is not all that far removed from what she has been doing for years now. In her guise as Susie Blue, with her band (many of them her regular bandmates) billed as The Lonesome Fellas, she deploys her warm, sultry voice on choice material, strictly top drawer fare, from some of the most important songwriters in western swing history..."  David McGee, Deep Roots Magazine

Popular tracks by Solitaire Miles