Forget You

Liner & Biography Notes

Although she’s sometimes been called a country singer, she sees herself in a broader light. “Instead of defining what I do by a name of a genre, I’d rather say something like… well, let’s say if you take a bit of Melissa Etheridge, a touch of Sheryl Crow and throw in a handful of Bonnie Raitt, you’d get me,” she says, laughing.

She started out with a drum kit at age 11. In Grade 7, while attending Courtenay Junior School, she took up guitar. When she was 16, she joined the Comox band Punch. “That was a great way to start out, because the other band members were 10 years older and really great musicians—they still are; they still live here. Once I graduated from high school, there was no question for me of what to do next. It was full tilt music.

In 1989, Medley released an independent country single called Cryin’ Over You. “That was way long ago,” she says now with a laugh. “Back then you sat down with a stack of your 45s, put ‘em in envelopes, stuck some stamps on and mailed then out to the radio stations. We actually got quite a lot of airplay that way.”

The single garnered her five West Coast Music Awards, including best vocalist of the year and best country vocalist of the year. It was followed by Angel Tonight a couple years later. By then she had made an appearance at the Big Valley Jamboree in Saskatchewan and on television on the Tommy Hunter Show.
She describes 1989 as the year she was “discovered. I was playing live at the Commodore at the West Coast Music Awards. Afterwards, an A&R guy from Polygram Records came up and gave me his card, and the rest was history, as they say.”

On the heels of the singles "Dangerous Times", "Maybe the Next Time", "That’s Life", and "Love Thing", she toured North America the rest of the year opening for Bob Dylan and other high profile artists. “To be up there on stage at Madison Square Gardens and look out and see that crowd—that was hands down the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had!”

Her second album, Inside Out, was once again co-produced by Medley and Wanchic and was aided by the musical help of slide guitarist Sonny Landreth and drummer Kenny Aronoff. The album, released in 1992, continued her radio success with a handful of additional singles and national tours with such artists as Tom Cochrane, Kim Mitchell and 54.40, keeping her in the spotlight. The first single "When the Stars Fall" became a hit on album radio and reached #2 on The Record's chart (being locked out of #1 only by U2). In October 1992 she was invited by John Mellencamp to participate in the Bob Dylan Tribute at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, and performed a duet with Mellencamp on the classic Dylan track "Like a Rolling Stone". Later that month she received a SOCAN award for her song "Maybe the Next Time", which was one of the most played songs on Canadian radio in 1991.

As well as purely commercial tours, Medley also toured for the military in Bosnia and Israel. “Someone invited me, and I thought, ‘yeah’. Wow—it was life changing. You go to places like that and it puts things in perspective and makes you really appreciate what we have here.”
Medley’s second CD, Inside Out, was released in 1992 and was followed by a support tour with the likes of Tom Cochrane and 54.40. The single When The Stars Fall became a hit on album radio and reached #2 on music industry magazine The Record’s chart (being locked out of #1 only by U2).
And on it went—more tours, another single, a video, placing songs on the TV show Dawson’s Creek, more awards, including several SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) awards and Juno Awards for Most Promising Vocalist and Album Art, playing at Farm Aid in Louisville, Kentucky, on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno backing up John Mellencamp, and at the televised Juno Awards.

Sue now lives in Comox and is currently working on an album release in the spring of 2013.

(Selected excerpts courtesy of InFocus magazine and Wikipedia.)


JOHN MELLENCAMP: "I've shared my stage with Sue on several occasions. The girl can sing!"

PAUL STUPIN/"Dawson's" Exec.Producer: "The richness of Sue's voice, coupled with such strong emotions and melodies created some of our most memorable musical moments. Our TV series wouldn't be the same without her songs."

BILLY BOB THORNTON: "Sue Medley has one of the greatest voices you'll ever hear."

GLOBE AND MAIL: "(Opening for Bob Dylan) Medley rose to the occasion, garnering kudos from the press and audiences alike for her aggressive and colorful performances. Bob dylan knows talent when he hears it: she came across as confident and totally in control."

Credits for Inside Out – Sue Medley

Produced by Michael Wanchic
Co-producer by Sue Medley

Mixed by Ross Hogarth
Recorded by Jay Healy
Additional tracking at Belmont was recorded by Mark Hood

Recorded at The Belmont Mall
Bloomington, Indiana
Assisted by Rick Fettig

Further tracking: TRC Recording CO.,
Indianapolis; Skyline Studios, The Power Station, Battery Studios, Giant Recording Studios, and The Hit Factory, New York, NY; Creation Studios, Vancouver, BC, where the engineer was Steve Smith

Assisting Engineers include David Shiffman,
Pete Chistiansen, Steve Neat, Andy Godsberg,
And Victor Deyglio

Mixed at Royal Recorders, Lake Geneva, Ws.
Assisted by Trevor Sadler
And at Paisley Park Studios, Minneapolis, Mn.
Assisted by Tom Garneau

Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisc,
New York, NY.

Design and Art Direction, Robert Lebeuf
All photography: Carl Valiquet

Album Coordinated by Marian Donnelly,
Artist Managent Etc.

“there is only one success – to be able to live your life your own way.”
Christopher Morley

Many thanks to the musicians:

Drums and persussion: Kenny Aronoff
Bass guitars: Jimmie Lee Sloas
Acoustic Guitars, dobro: Robbie Steininger
Electric guitars: Sonny Landreth, Robbie Steininger
Piano: Richard Bell
Organ, synthesizers: Richard Bell, Richard Sera
Backing vocals: Sue Medley, Richard Sera,
Mike Wanchic, John James, Roderic Bronaugh,
Jacci McGee, Robbie Steininger

(Sonny Landreth appears courtesy of Zoo/Praxis
Jacci McGee appears courtesy of MCA Records)

Special thanks to: Bob Corky, our friends at Polygram Canada and Mercury US, and to Robbie Steininger, Dona Spangler, John Redmond, Jim Vallance, Barney, Richard, Vince and Gary (the fellas).


Sue Medley – Inside Out

The Sound and the Fury
Inside Out
When the Stars Fall
I Can’t Imagine
Forget You
Jane’s House
I Am Alive
Long Hard Fall
Under a Southern Sky
How Deep It Goes

Producer by Michael Wanchic
Co-produced by Sue Medley

Mercury / Polygram