Singer-songwriter Susan Werner enjoys a reputation coast to coast as one of the most daring musical forces on the acoustic circuit. Her shows combine virtuosic talent with a stand-up comic’s sense of timing, and are widely regarded as among the most entertaining solo shows in the business.

Werner first learned guitar at the age of five, and says, “That was it, that was the key to the universe. I was lucky in that early on I knew exactly what I wanted to do with myself in the world. I wanted to play music.” With professional level rock and jazz chops on guitar and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland’s NPR Piano Jazz), as well as a master’s degree in voice performance, she delivers live performances that electrify any room.

In her songs, Werner draws on a dizzying array of styles, from New Orleans piano to Texas roadhouse to gospel and even Cuban traditional “son.” Werner says, “What seems to happen is every two years or so, I become totally enamored with a given style of music, and I set out to learn how to play it. It’s a romance, really, of sorts, in that you kind of fumble your way towards something, and, if you do it right, you wind up with songs that surprise you and everybody else, too.” These “romances,” as she calls them, have produced numerous concept albums that have made her a favorite of NPR, Folk Alliance International and the annual Cayamo Songwriter’s Cruise. Her tunes have been covered by artists such as Tom Jones, Shemekia Copeland and Michael Feinstein, among others.

Her concept albums drew the attention of the producer of Bull Durham, The Musical (based on the MGM film), who engaged her as composer and lyricist. As Werner puts it, “What is a musical score, really, but just a big concept album?” The show and score has been produced in Atlanta, Durham NC and Millburn NJ in its ongoing development for Broadway, with Werner’s writing praised by the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But it is in live performance that one really gets the sense of Werner’s singular talent. She honed her onstage chops as support for headline artists from Keb’ Mo’ and Ani DiFranco to George Carlin, and it's her ability to connect in the concert hall that sets her apart among her peers. “There’s a lot of things I can’t do anything about out there, but I can, hopefully, send you out the door feeling better than when you walked in,” Werner says. Sellout audiences coast to coast testify to Werner’s remarkable and continued success achieving exactly that.