Susan Alcorn

Susan Alcorn (April 4, 1953 – January 31, 2025) was an American composer, improvisor, and pedal steel guitarist.

Life and career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Alcorn started playing guitar at the age of twelve and quickly immersed herself in folk music, blues, and the pop music of the 1960s. A chance encounter with blues musician Muddy Waters steered her towards playing slide guitar. then Baltimore later in life. She was married to photographer David Lobato. Alcorn died of natural causes at her home in northeast Baltimore on January 31, 2025.

Discography "Uma" (Loveletter 2000) "Curandera" (Uma Sounds 2005), "Concentration" (Recorded 2004) "And I Await the Resurrection of the Pedal Steel Guitar" (Olde English Spelling Bee 2007) "Touch This Moment" (Uma Sounds 2010) "Soledad" (Relative Pitch, 2015) "Evening Tales" (Mystra 2016). "Prism Mirror Lens" (with Phillip Greenlief, VG+ 2019) "Invitation to a Dream (with Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark, Astral Spirits 2019) "Pedernal" (Susan Alcorn Quinet, Relative Pitch 2020) "Bird Meets Wire" (with Ingrid Laubrock, Leila Bordreuil, Relative Pitch 2020) "From Union Pool" (with Patrick Holmes and Ryan Sawyer, Relative Pitch 2022) "Manifesto" (with Hernâni Faustino and Jose Lencastre, Relative Pitch 2020) "Canto" (Septeto del Sur, Relative Pitch 2020) "Thollem / Susan Alcorn - Thollem's Astral Traveling Sessions" (Astral Spirits, 2021) "Filament" (with Catherine Sikora Mingus, Relative Pitch 2024) "In-Yun" (Longform Editions 2024) "Contra Madre" (with Nomad War Machine, VG+Records 2026)