09/17/2026
The reviews are coming in:
"On a whole, Storylines is one of Janet Planet’s more powerful statements as she digs into the lyrics and universal feelings" Scott Yanow jazz critic
Janet, I absolutely love, love, love the CD —the lyrics and the music ( your voice is in perfect pitch with it all.) I especially loved and connected with "The Things I Remember” “What are You Waiting For?” Where Do I Go from Here...” and “Come Home To You.” Mary Wehner - author/poet
I just finished the first of a series of interviews with Dr. Susan Weinschenk and we will be giving the "lines" behind the story in series of discussions. For booking information with this project of "Uniting Through Healing".
Go to: http://www.storylinesmusic.com
Storylines...(the rest of the story) by Janet Planet
http://www.storylinesmusic.com
(click on link for more information and how you can book this presentation)
Storylines - The Music Of Susan Weinschenk
Everyone has a story and in short, the human condition is more similar than we think and I believe music has always been the great communicator.
But there are opinions about the "great communicator". Oh my! We sure know that! Folks have their taste, their tendencies and their own tasks in learning how to make manifest, the “forever endeavor” – music.
Years ago, I attended a workshop in NYC where there were a panel of critics and a panel of jazz musicians.
One very visible and published critic had given a scathing review of an artist’s latest recording of original music, and that musician was there to face off with the critic.
Very interesting….
Because many readers of the critic’s reviews would trust his opinion, it could make or break the purchase or even investigation of the artist's music.
I’ll never forget when the musician stood up and said “Do you even play an instrument? Do you study music??”. I remember the critic smugly said something along the lines of “I play a little harmonica”.
That’s when the musician said…” Your words can make or break my career and mess with my livelihood, and you don’t even know what you’re listening to much less the WHY?”!
Music is there for the taking and not all of it resonates with everyone and if you’re in it long enough you grow a little bit of an "armor". It happens with all artists, I’m sure.
We take our clothes off and wait for someone to point out the flaws and you'd better be ready to take it.
There are all kinds of reasons I sing the way I did on this project. Some have something to do with the time frame and omittance of performing the material live before recording, but all of that being said, I’ve been doing this for over 40 years and what I hear in my head, how I feel it should go, or more importantly, the soul of the message is what matters most to me. My instrument has developed in such a way that I can produce what I believe is who I am in that moment. It’s the moment that is captured through my voice and I use it to tell the story.
“A documentation of a passage of time” then, we go from there.
What my hope is and I’m pretty sure what Susan’s hope is, is that the story comes through. The words, the dynamics of the songs, the lyrics and the space in between the lyrics that give you, the listener, a chance to apply it to your own story.
Not every chapter will illustrate your visual but there might be a moment, a word, a giggle, a goosebump, a melody, a solo, the darkness or the lightness of the sound, that resonates.
We come together with differences of opinions but perhaps the music will find moments of agreement, a reminder of who we are and most importantly who we can be. Beings who manifest the only reality which, in its many forms, is love.
