Susan Gayle Medley (born 1962 at

Courtenay, British Columbia Courtenay ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest community and only city in the area commonly known as the Comox Valley, and the seat of the Comox Valley Regional Dis ...

) is a Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician. She released her self-titled debut CD in 1990. She won a Juno Award in 1991 for Most Promising Female Vocalist.

Early years

A native of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Sue Medley was signed to

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

Records Canada in 1989 and released a self-titled debut CD in 1990. The album was co-produced by Medley and

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

producer Michael Wanchic and featured strong performances by

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

's band The Goners. In Canada Medley's first single, "Dangerous Times" not only pushed her debut album to gold status within a few weeks of release, but was #1 on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

for two weeks, #1 on the Pop Adult charts for 12 weeks, in the Top 3 of the national album rock chart for six weeks, and earned her a SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award for most airplay. 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 Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and other high-profile artists. 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 Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Bre ...

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 Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music ...

Kim Mitchell Joseph Kim Mitchell (born July 10, 1952) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the band Max Webster before going on to a solo career. His 1984 single, " Go for Soda", was his only charted song on the US ''Billboa ...

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 Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylvan ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 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. Medley is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.

Dispute with PolyGram

Her third album, however, would not be forthcoming. Following a two-year dispute with her record label over the songs that would comprise that release, she and PolyGram parted ways. She retreated to her house near Bloomington,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and wrote and recorded much of the material that made up her independent release, ''Velvet Morning'', which was released in February 2000 on Egg Records. Her profile received a boost after four of her songs were featured on the TV series ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

''.

Recent activity

After the renewal of her profile with ''Dawson's Creek'', Medley lived and worked in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, teaching guitar and helping to develop a new generation of budding songwriters and recording artists. Medley recently returned to Canada, and is now writing and demoing new material for an upcoming release. She is currently represented by Inner Circle Management, an art and cultural industries consulting business, based in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. In 2011 she joined the horn driven band "Time Well Wasted" based in her home town of

. After two years, Medley left TWW to form her own band "Sue Medley & The Back Road Band", and in July 2013 released the 3-song EP "Sue Medley & The Back Road Band", and followed this with a full-length album "These Are The Days", both productions co-produced with former CBC Music Producer / Recording Engineer John Mang. Sue Medley continues to perform, teach and perform in the Comox Valley.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medley, Sue 1962 births Canadian women rock singers Canadian rock guitarists Canadian women guitarists Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Living people Musicians from British Columbia People from Courtenay, British Columbia 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers