Susan Cagle

Susan Cagle's 'Oprah' Dream Comes True

10 May 2007 16:32:00 EDT

Singer/songwriter performed her song 'Dear Oprah' on Winfrey's show Thursday morning.
By James Montgomery

Susan Cagle has gone from busking in the New York City subwaybusking in the New York City subway to inking a major-label recording deal, being named an MTV "You Hear It First" artistMTV "You Hear It First" artist, appearing live on the 2006 Video Music Awards2006 Video Music Awards and relocating to Los Angeles to work on her first studio album — all in the course of roughly one year.

Yet, despite that whirlwind of change, nothing could have prepared her for her Thursday morning (May 10) appointment with Oprah Winfrey.

"It's been pretty amazing, because one of the first shows I did was [on] MTV, and then I just appeared on 'Oprah,' which are both these mega things," she laughed. "So at the beginning of my career, I couldn't ask for any bigger things. It's incredibly exciting and, honestly, mind-blowing."

Cagle spoke to MTV News from her Chicago hotel just minutes after wrapping a performance and interview on an "Oprah Winfrey Show" program largely dedicated to her remarkable rise to fame. The tagline for the episode was "Discovered in a Subway: Now Her Dream Comes True," and it couldn't be more, well, spot-on. Almost a decade ago, Cagle dreamed about meeting Oprah, and she'd be lying if she said she ever thought that dream would come true.

"I wrote a letter in my diary to Oprah when I was 17 or 18, during a very lonely time in my life," Cagle said. "I felt trapped; this whole world inside of me wanted to come out, but I didn't know how to make it happen. And Oprah was an inspiration to me. I never dreamed she'd read my letter. But writing it helped me. I felt like I was venting to someone that I didn't have in my life.

"Then, last year, when [producer] Jay [Levine] and I were writing songs for my new record, we took the contents of that letter and decided to turn them into a song," she continued. "Like I said, I had no idea what would happen, because the lyrics were just taken from my letter to Oprah. And I never thought she, or anyone, would hear them."

But Cagle started playing the song — which she simply called "Dear Oprah" — during some of her subway sets, and it immediately struck a chord with listeners. As luck would have it, MTV News was there to tape one of those performances — watch Susan Cagle performing "Dear Oprah" in the NYC subway right here — and through serendipity (or some aggressive Googling at Harpo Studios), Winfrey came across the clip and instantly reached out to Cagle.

"I got off the plane from L.A. and I had a million messages from people telling me, 'Oprah saw the video on MTV of you singing [the song] and she loved it,' " Cagle said. "And she contacted my producers about getting me on the show to perform the song."

So fast-forward to Thursday morning, with Cagle and her band standing backstage at Harpo, watching stagehands scramble to assemble her equipment for a live performance. The minutes counted down, and then she was face-to-face with her idol — singing lyrics like, "I'm broken, got a problem and my world is crashing down/ I'm writing with the hope that this letter will be found/ Don't expect you to read it, probably got better things to do/ I got no one to turn to, so I'm turning to you."

To say it was emotional was probably the understatement of the year.

"All of a sudden, a producer is grabbing me, going, 'Come up to the stage.' I grabbed my guitar, and Oprah introduces me, and I could barely sing properly, because everyone was crying," Cagle said. "Oprah was sitting in the front row and she was getting emotional, and so were people in the audience. And I kept looking down at Oprah, and she's looking at me with these watery eyes, so I got really emotional too. It was amazing."

After a performance that, according to Cagle, "flew by," she sat down for an interview with Winfrey, who asked her about her childhood and fledgling career. And then it was all over, with Cagle heading back to her hotel room and then on to L.A. to complete work on her album, which is tentatively due in August. And whatever may come for Cagle, she says that it will probably all pale in comparison to this heady Thursday morning, when something that started as an entry in her journal finally blossomed into a full-blown "dream come true."

And, when you think of it that way, can you blame her?

"A lot of people say that Oprah is their role model, and it's sort of this cliché, but it's true. What I like about her is her background, how she came from a turbulent family, was sort of scattered in her 20s, worked really hard and finally became Oprah," Cagle explained. "She just became the best, without having a good background. She built everything up from scratch. And the parallels between her life and mine are obvious. So hopefully I can build something like she has."

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New Releases: 'Idol Encores,' Angels & Airwaves, Don Omar, Pink, Walkmen, Dixie Chicks & More

23 May 2006 06:00:00 EDT

Also due Tuesday: Damone, Susan Cagle, Yo Gotti, Mission of Burma, PJ Harvey.
By Kurt Orzeck

Idolatry: Everyone knows Katharine and Taylor are battling it out Tuesday night (May 23), but if you were rooting for Elliott, Paris, Kellie or another "Idol" contender, the compilation "American Idol Season 5 Encores" will give you a chance to hear the finalists once again. Covers of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight & the Pips give the collection plenty of soul, although Chris Daughtry adds some rock edge with his take on Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive."

While the "Idol" contenders' best-known tunes belong to other people, so do the theme songs to entertainers on the other end of the spectrum: WWE wrestlers. This week's other big compilation, WWE: Reckless Intent, isn't as heavy on the metal as you might think: Alongside tracks by Killswitch Engage, Brand New Sin and P.O.D. are Three 6 Mafia, who add some hop with "Some Bodies Gonna Get It," and Silkk the Shocker, who chips in "Never Gonna Change."

Touched by Angels: Call them a "rebirth," a "supergroup" or "the greatest rock and roll revolution for this generation," as singer Tom DeLonge himself did, but whatever the case, Angels & Airwaves finally descend with We Don't Need to Whisper this week. If you pre-ordered through the A&A site, you might have received a copy signed by the band, but if you're still looking for something extra, pick up the U.K. edition, which has bonus live versions of "Start the Machine" and "Do It for Me Now."

Don We Now: After teaming up with Jennifer Lopez and Fabolous the last time around, Don Omar is back with King of Kings, which probably gives you an idea of how important the rapper considers himself to the reggaetón movement. This time around he's roped in Juelz Santana ("Conteo"), Beenie Man ("Belly Danza") and Mackie Ranks ("En Su Nota") for his 18-track affair, which is mostly sung in Spanish.

Tickle Her Pink: Liking Pink's I'm Not Dead but still dying to "Get the Party Started"? Look no further than the singer's "Live in Europe," a DVD that packs in all her pre-"Stupid Girl" singles, plus a heap of additional performances. Furthered by an on-the-road doc, the video has more than 25 live songs plus spots by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Peaches.

Dixie Cats: The Dixie Chicks know better than anyone what it's like to carry a heavy burden, but they share the load a little on their politically charged Taking the Long Way. Famed rock producer Rick Rubin sat behind the decks, while John Mayer adds a searing lick to "I Hope," co-written by blues legend Keb' Mo'. Sheryl Crow also lent her songwriting skills, though the Chicks get deeply personal by touching on everything from infertility to Alzheimer's, from which singer Natalie Maines' grandmother suffers.

Getting a Boost: Harlem, New York's Purple City tapped Jim Jones to executive produce and appear on their latest LP, The Purple Album, which also features B.G., Max B. and Boot Camp Click. Mr. Collipark is all over Da Muzicianz's record of the same name, producing a smattering of songs and appearing on the last two, "Mr. Collipark Speaks" and "Gyrate." And Lil Wayne, Jazze Pha, Bun B, Baby and 8Ball beef up the second record by Memphis underground fave Yo Gotti, whose Back 2 Da Basics also features "Full Time" from "Hustle & Flow."

On the rock side, Sufjan Stevens embellishes his pals Serena-Maneesh's self-titled debut, playing flute and marimba while his sisters Elvira and Hilma contribute vocals and bass, respectively. Another breakout indie troubadour, Devendra Banhart, furthers the second record by Vetiver — a.k.a. Andy Cabic, who is also a member of Banhart's live band. And two more solo stars are bumping up rookie Sierra Swan: James Blunt, who took her on tour recently, and Aimee Mann, who chimes in on "Get Down to It" on Swan's Ladyland. And one of the most iconic singer/songwriters of all, Leonard Cohen, mentored Hawaiian artist and Berklee College of Music grad Anjani Thomas for her major-label debut, Blue Alert, which was co-written and produced by Cohen.

As far as indie stuff goes, Mike Patton proves that Dub Trio really are "Not Alone" by appearing on that song on the noise act's enhanced New Heavy. Liars' Julian Gross directs one of the six videos that appears on the DVD accompanying Bedroom Walls' All Good Dreamers Pass This Way. And Antony and Bonnie "Prince" Billy surface on Black Ships Ate the Sky, the new album from Current 93, a collective headed up by David Tibet and also featuring Ben Chasny of Bonnie "Prince" Billy labelmates Six Organs of Admittance.

Branching Out: How apropos for Michelle Branch to debut her new project, the Wreckers, on "One Tree Hill." Now that she has, it's time for her and Nashville singer/songwriter Jessica Harp to trot out Stand Still, Look Pretty, the limited edition of which comes with a bonus DVD.

Also finding a new mouthpiece — actually, let's make that a bullhorn — are punk heroes Marky Ramone, Jerry Only (Misfits), Dez Cadena (Black Flag), Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & the Voidoids) and Misfits collaborator John Cafiero. Their new team, Osaka Popstar, roll out their eponymous debut this week, which — like the Wreckers' LP — comes with a bonus DVD loaded with videos, animation and more.

Two members of the Mother Hips and Cake drummer Todd Roper have gone on to form Sensations, whose Listen to My Shapes debut drops this week. And Dave Shettler of the Sights has joined forces with members of the Paybacks and Cyril Lords to form SSM, a raggedy Detroit band that's also chalking up a self-titled debut.

We Salute You: Everyone knows how much Def Leppard love their sugar, but David Bowie and the Kinks too? 'Pears so, as the U.K. arena-rockers hail those artists — plus Thin Lizzy, T. Rex and Roxy Music — on Yeah! Still, that's not as unusual as Urge Overkill, the Four Tops, the Monkees and Crooked Fingers covering Neil Diamond; all the recordings have been out before, but now they've been compiled as Forever Neil Diamond. Less surprising is another torch singer, Michael Bolton, who brings us his self-explanatory Bolton Swings Sinatra this week.

Song Title of the Week:

"Sometimes the Line Walks You" from Murder by Death's In Bocca Al Lupo

Other Notables:

PJ Harvey's "PJ Harvey on Tour - Please Leave Quietly" DVD: She's been around for seven album cycles, but the celebrated chanteuse finally has a concert video to call her own. Consisting mostly of performances from 2004 — including the rare tracks "Uh Huh Her" and "E♥ol" — the DVD also has a revealing, 28-minute interview and diary footage from the usually reserved Harvey.

Art Brut's Bang Bang Rock and Roll: If you didn't see last year's critics polls, you probably don't know about U.K. sensations Art Brut, whose debut LP finally arrives in the States this week. The chic artistes have added three exclusive cuts to the U.S. version: "These Animal Menswear," "Really Bad Weekend" and "Maternity Ward."

Mission of Burma's The Obliterati: They've been around for 26 years — well, just six, if you subtract the slightly lengthy hiatus — but Boston's MOB finally have a third studio LP to their name. Initial pressings have a bonus DVD featuring high-def, multi-angle footage from the band's November 2004 gig at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts. Prepare to be obliterated.

New Releases:

Jackie Allen - Tangled (Blue Note)
Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper (Geffen)
Read: "Tom DeLonge Spills More About Angels & Airwaves' Plans For World Domination"
Buy Now: We Don't Need to Whisper (Geffen)
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Downtown)
Buy Now: Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Downtown)
As Far As - Open Letter to the Damned (Octone)
Bedroom Walls - All Good Dreamers Pass This Way (Baria)
Blöödhag - Hell Bent for Letters (Alternative Tentacles)
The Blood Brothers - Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck (enhanced EP; V2)
Buy Now: Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck (V2)
Michael Bolton - Bolton Swings Sinatra: The Second Time Around (Concord)
Bronze Nazareth - The Great Migration (Babygrande)
Susan Cagle - The Subway Recordings (Columbia)
Read: "Susan Cagle Has A Major-Label Deal But Still Sings In NYC Subway"
The Cairo Gang - The Cairo Gang (Narnack)
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