susan gilbert

The whole thing started because I was writing a lot of songs, until I had so many I didn't know what to do--the proverbial shoe problem. I play keyboard, write songs and poetry, sing, and try to keep track of things. I didn't always do this.

I used to be a painter, until 23 years ago, when my son, Noah, was born. I spent a few very busy years being a mother to Noah and my daughter, Kihra, and doing very little of anything else until, one day, a song burst forth. It really was about like that. The song pleased me so much (it was about a painter with his eyes on fire) that it sent me into an intense songwriting phase, with songs arriving sometimes daily over the next few years. I would often work on them in the morning before anyone got up, and many of them came directly out of dreams.

Since then I've collaborated with several different people and combinations of people. Ellen VanLaar, Chris Williams, and I put together a band called Darlene's Daydream and performed six of my songs at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, February 1992. Ellen and I continued working and performing together for several years, Ellen playing keyboard, fiddle, viola, and singing her very unique harmonies. I've also enjoyed working with Lisa Johansson, of Song of the Lakes, on several projects. One was a flute and poetry performance, where I met Richard Curtis. Lisa and I also collaborated on a musical retelling of an Inuit folktale, Sedna, which we presented at local schools and the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City.

The first inklings of Keyboard and Plastic Duck came when I was set to play six songs at Sol Michael's, a local folk festival/benefit, several years ago. I recruited Richard Curtis to play flute and Richard knew Bill Wagner so we invited him to add percussion. We practiced three or four times, did the concert, and then never saw each other for another year. The next year, for the same event, we learned six more songs, so then we had twelve. We had a great time and decided to continue working together so we could play a whole concert.

Our first full length concert as Keyboard and Plastic Duck was at Kejara's Bridge in Lake Leelanau, a friendly place, on November 20, 1999.

what next?