I'm your host Joe Pug. Each episode here we host a distinguished guest and we ask

them to go deep on their inspiration, on their process, on the general ups and

downs of making a life in music.

So, whether you're a grizzled veteran attempting to cravenly release EDM songs

under a pseudonym, or else a scrappy upstart brazenly declaring that you'll

never sell the publishing of a catalogue that no one has ever offered to buy.

This is your show. Because ultimately it is what every writer seeks most.

An ironclad excuse to put off actually writing. Hey guys, it's the last Friday of April 2017, and I'm sad to say that this is the second month in a row

that we must begin our show with a bit of a eulogy and a goodbye.

Let's hope this is the end of a trend for a while at least to begin the

show on such a somber note. But there are some people in this world that you just

can't help but remember and recognize.

Susan Tanner was not a songwriter, but she devoted her life to being a tireless advocate

for songwriters, famous and obscure and everywhere in between.

So here's a brief account of her life from the music journal, The Public,

written by Donnie Cutts Back.

Born and raised in Western New York, Susan Tanner graduated from Eden Central and headed to

Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where her love of music drew her to the campus-based

radio station W-A-R-C. From there she headed to

Philadelphia to work on an advanced degree in neuroscience, but fate and the draw of rock and roll had other plans. She was offered an

internship with Miles Copeland's IRS records. She ended up with a full-time job at

the Industry Power powerhouse Universal Records at just the time when

...