Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega usually heads straight to the compost heap for song ideas. "I have a compost heap of at least 50 notebooks dating back many years, and I pull from those notebooks when writing a new album," Vega says. She starts the process with a theme in mind then heads straight to that pile of notebooks to look for ideas to fit the theme. Some of her songs take years to emerge: "Lucinda" started as an idea more than 25 years ago.  It"s a pretty rich compost heap that can produce "Tom"s Diner" and "Luka." Vega wrote "Tom"s Diner" on a walk after leaving the diner, further proof of how movement improves the creative process. She"s also a voracious reader and cites James Joyce as a big influence. Suzanne Vega"s latest album is Flying With Angels on Cooking Vinyl Records.