Suzanne Vega will perform her unique brand of intelligent indie folk pop for free in Madison Square Park on June 19
THE OVAL LAWN SERIES
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd & 26th St. and Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, June 19, free, 7:00
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.suzannevega.com
Madison Square Park’s free annual summer music program kicks off in a big way on June 19 with a performance by longtime New York City favorite Suzanne Vega. The singer-songwriter broke through in the mid-1980s with her eponymous debut album and follow-up, Solitude Standing, displaying a supremely original, poetic take on indie folk pop with such songs as “Marlene on the Wall,” “Undertow,” “Tom’s Diner,” and “Luka,” which opened a national discussion on child abuse. During the first twenty-two years of her career, the California-born, New York-raised Vega, one of the early MTV stars, released seven well-regarded records, including 1992’s 99.9F°, 1996’s Nine Objects of Desire, and 2007’s Beauty & Crime, but she’s put out four records over the last two years as she reinvestigates her old songs and adds a few new and/or previously unreleased ones as part of her Close-Up series, which is divided thematically into Love Songs, People & Places, States of Being, and Songs of Family. Her performance in Madison Square Park is one of the highlights of the city’s free summer music season; she’ll be back for a ticketed residency July 3 and 10 at City Winery, after which she heads out to Japan, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and Switzerland. Mad. Sq. Music’s Oval Lawn Series continues every Wednesday through August 7 with such other acts as Rene Marie’s “Experiment in Truth,” Ben Sollee, Erin McKeown, and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.