B.J. was a musician all her life, and studied music
in college. She played piano, guitar, banjo, and mandolin beautifully and had the knack of picking up anything with strings and being able
to play it immediately!
Her first musical memory was of knocking out her front tooth on middle
C of the family piano at age four. Probably her most "smashing"
musical accomplishment. Obviously the lure of the black and
white ivories was stonger than the pain of loosing that tooth, because
she kept climbing up on that piano bench to make what she thought was
music. When she turned five, her parents decided (out of self-defense,
she said) that it was probably a good idea for her to learn how to play the
piano in a more traditional style, and started her on lessons along with
her two older brothers. She stuck with it — they didn't. Piano
lessons waned a couple years later when they moved to another town,
but she was perfectly happy to continue to play by ear and attempt to
replicate songs from the radio, TV, and recordings.
Along came flute, violin, sousaphone, and tenor drum in marching/concert
band and orchestra during junior and high school along with stints in
chorus and stage musicals.
The first musical "awards" she remembered winning was a first
for a 6-voice ensemble at the state music competition in high school
and being awarded "Most Valuable Musician" her senior year.
She also picked up the guitar around this time and had more fun with
it than any of the other instruments combined... much easier to carry
around and sing with.
On to college from there resulting in a BA with a major in music and
minors in art and German. She didn't speak Deutsch!)
After college, she spent a few years in Miami, Florida, singing and
playing guitar and flute in an acoustic vocal trio whose fame never
extended much past the city limits, but paid the rent and put food on
the table.
Since that time she did some solo gigs and played in another
small acoustic band or two for the fun of it. Eventually, she picked
up the banjo—a life long dream—and started writing songs.
Performance highlights include placing second in the Telluride
Band Competition with a 3-piece pick-up band, being a finalist in the
Telluride Troubadour Competition, and being selected for the International
Bluegrass Music Association's Songwriter Showcase at its annual "World
of Bluegrass" convention in Nashville.
Additional musical endeavors include being President of the 
Colorado Bluegrass Music
Society 
(CBMS) for seven years and producing five compilation CDs for CBMS that
feature a number of its member bands, including the bands Still Lookin' and WhoYaSay?, which she co-founded.
She started peforming less and spent more time composing; she said the highlight of which were putting the music to three of
Sandy Reay  's
song lyrics and recording them with her for her 2010 CD
"I Wanted
to Fly". BJ said, "For me, writing the music is the best
part of creating a song, so to have the opportunity to work with a great
lyricist like San is a dream come true!"
Some of her instrumental compositions are on two of the CBMS Compilation
CDs—one co-written with Bill Farmer. A song she co-wrote with
Sandy Reay is on another CBMS Compilation CD. The songs she co-wrote with Sandy
are featured on Colorado
Sandstorm Music Publishing  .
One song, State
Line Cafe, was aired on KOLT and KVMR. She and Sandy drove north until they could find KOLT on the radio and hear the song on the air for the first time.
She spent a year recording a CD of her music, before her death in Jan. 2023. A memorial gathering including BJ's music and art was held at Planet Bluegrass in conjuction with the opening of the 2023 Song School in Lyons CO.
| BJ 's obituary, published Feb 4, 2023:
LONGMONT, Colo.--Barbara Jean “BJ” Suter, 74, died January 13, 2023 at Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont after a private year-and-a-half long battle with breast cancer, accompanied shortly before her death by her long-time friend and housemate David Coile.
BJ was born August 9, 1948 in Dayton, Ohio to Dale and Helen Suter and spent her early years in Centerville, south of Dayton. At the age of four, she knocked out her front tooth on her family’s piano and began her musical career.
After the family moved to Troy, Ohio in 1956, she mastered the piano and later joined the high school band and learned the flute, violin, sousaphone and tenor drum—though the guitar soon became her primary instrument. She then explored choral music, winning a state music competition with a 6-voice ensemble, and was named “Most Valuable Musician” her senior year. From there she went on to earn degrees in music, art and German from Bluffton College in 1970.
Shortly after her college graduation, BJ moved to Miami, Florida, where she worked as a professional musician, performing in an acoustic vocal trio. After meeting her now-divorced husband and moving with him to Boise, Idaho and then Boulder, Colorado, she became ensconced in the local bluegrass scene, learned to play the banjo, and helped nurture nascent festivals as part of the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society, with whom she served seven years as President. She was a regular staff member at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass and Rockygrass Academy, Folks Fest and the Rocky Mountain Song School, among others.
As a performer, BJ played in many ensembles, ultimately placing 2nd in the Telluride Band competition, and was a finalist in the Telluride Troubadour competition. As a songwriter, she was selected for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s “World of Bluegrass” Songwriter Showcase in Nashville. She was a prolific songwriter, devoted to writing a song a week for the last several years of her life, including many collaborations with performers such as the popular Rebecca Folsom. BJ was working on recording her first album, which is expected to be completed this summer.
BJ worked for 30 years for the City of Boulder’s Housing and Human Services Department. After retiring in 2015, she volunteered to help organize finances for the underprivileged, to teach English to native Spanish-speakers, and as a docent for the Denver Art Museum. She was also a member of several art groups and classes, producing many lovely pastel paintings, sketches and other visual pieces.
BJ was preceded in death by her father, mother, and brother David and is survived by her brother Ralph. She had no children.
A funeral service was held February 11, 2023, in Bluffton, Ohio.
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BJ (kneeling, left) was one of 14 people nominated for the SCFD
2008 Rex Morgan Citizen Volunteer Award. She received a certificate,
was congratulated by Mayor John Hickenlooper and was honored
at a dinner for the nominees at the Chambers Grant Salon in
the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Nov. 19, 2008..
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with Shadow Mountain String Band: Bill Donaldson, Sandy Reay, Mike Billings,
Ron ?, B.J.
Jan. 2008, Victorian Dance Caribbean Cruise, Carnival Conquest |
Red Molly with (L to R): Michi Regier,
Sandy Reay,
BJ, and Bill Farmer at Swallow Hill Folk Festival, August, 2005
(Article from "The Hub"; Note: band is incorrectly identified
in the photo caption.) |
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Still Lookin' at Swallow Hill Folk-a-Thon |
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