Week of March 20, 2008, Issue #648
MUSIC
Susan Wheatley
Music is the best medicine for getting Beyond the Dover
GEN HANDLEY / gen@vueweekly.com
Since 1927, the Dover Hotel has sat on the corner of 127 Avenue and 120 Street as a watering hole for CN railway workers to unwind after their shifts. It’s also a place that evokes a lot of strong emotions in singer Susan Wheatley’s heart.
“My father was an alcoholic,” she says. “Him and his coworkers would go to the Dover after work to drink.
“Since I was a child, about three or four, the Dover Hotel has always symbolized a bad place for me,” she adds without a hint of bitterness. “But I’m over that now.”
The reason why Wheatley has been able to move on has a lot to do with her debut CD, Beyond The Dover, which will be released at the Blue Chair Café on Mar 22.
Truly a cathartic experience for the singer, Wheatley wears all of her heart on the album. From mental illness to physical abuse, Wheatley’s songs explore every corner of those dark years with her father and his addiction. The end result is an empowered woman ready to deal with the past.
“When you grow up in an addictive household with an addictive parent, you learn how to hide your feelings and suppress them,” the songwriter says. “I’ve started to deal with them and I wrote a lot of these songs to help me get over my emotions.”
But despite the darker lyrical content of her album, the charismatic and at times bubbly singer is ready to charge forward with her sincere songs and contagious optimism, explaining that she hopes that her music will encourage the healing process for people who have been in the same situation or who are going through the same experiences.
Even though she’s now a resident of Calgary, Wheatley has looked to Edmonton for more than ghosts of her childhood. She recorded her CD at Riverdale Recorders, a local studio, and also credits CKUA as a serious muse for making this record.
“It really inspired me to tell my story and get real,” she says passionately. “Some of the artists I’ve heard on CKUA taught me to be more vulnerable and lay it all out there.
“It’s kind of crazy how much I am throwing out there,” Wheatley continues, laughing. “All the songs are very personal and they’re like a diary of my life.”
The 41-year-old says it was an interesting experience going back to the Dover Hotel to do the photo shoot for the CD cover.
“Honestly, I had this sense of relief and I felt at peace,” she says quietly. “I was looking up at the sky, thinking of the old man and throwing out some love. I was telling him it’s all good.” V
Sat, Mar 22 (8:00 pm)
Susan Wheatley
Blue Chair Café, $15 (advance), $18 (door), $45 (dinner and show)
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