Vega’s albums take the listener on a trip to many spiritual places and centre on many situations, dilemmas and struggles as well as featuring many songs that celebrate life itself. Like the classic records released by Randy Newman, Ry Cooder and Tracy Chapman you will be listening for years to come because of the passions captured when recorded. So how about the rare chance to hear a couple of key albums played live, in person?

Following her extensive critically acclaimed and sell out UK tour last year, the legendary New York singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has announced a series of dates this August, to continue the celebrations of the 30th and 25th anniversaries respectively of her albums ‘Solitude Standing’ and ’99.9F’ by performing both in full, as well as more tracks from throughout a distinguished career that has seen her sell over 7 million albums worldwide.

Vega will perform tracks such as ‘Luka’, ‘Tom’s Diner’, and ‘Blood Makes Noise’ from ‘Solitude Standing’ and ’99.9F’. ‘Tom’s Diner’ is often referred to as the Mother of the MP3, as it lays claim to the first track to use the pioneering audio compression.

Having emerged as a leading figure in the folk-music revival of the early 1980s accompanying herself simply with an acoustic guitar, Vega released her ‘Solitude Standing’, her second album, in 1987. The record would go on to chart at number 2 in the UK and number 11 in the USA, going platinum and earning a nomination for Record of the Year at the Grammys in the process.

Always pushing the boundaries of music both lyrically and sonically, Vega released ’99.9F’ in 1992, and album with a more electronic sound, which brought descriptions of ‘industrial folk’ and ‘techno folk’. The record was certified gold, and also won a New York Music Award for Best Rock Album.

Pete Sargeant