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Suzanne Hill finds one painting is never enough; it deserves to have partners and colleagues. The 64-year-old Saint John painter has earned a reputation as someone who paints series - whether of weirs or high water marks - that come at a concept from all angles.

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"If an idea is worth doing it's worth really doing," she says.

"It's more interesting that way for the artist."

When it comes to music the same holds true. Asked for a list of her favourite 10 songs, the former Strathbutler Award winner said she couldn't choose single songs by themselves because she looks at an album as a whole. The album is more than the sum of its parts, exploring ideas in greater depth when taken together. Just like her art.

That's the way she listens to music. Instead of an iPod shuffling through random songs, she puts on one CD at a time - the old-fashioned way.

- Telegraph-Journal

SUZANNE HILL’S TOP LISTENING PICKS

1. Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man No reasons here. Leonard says it all so well. I have almost all of his recordings and I suppose if there is to be only one that expresses his earliest impact, this would be it. His “golden voice” as well as the words...

2. k.d. lang – hymns of the 49th parallel This CD is so thoughtful – her choice of songs as well as the “anthem-like” quality she brings to the interpretation. Often just listening to this will get me started on whatever it is I’ve been worrying over in my work.

3. Emmy Lou Harris – Stumble Into Grace I can thank my friend Lynn for introducing me to Emmy Lou. Like Leonard Cohen, I have a number of her recordings; this one seems to be the one I choose most frequently. I’ve lost the little book thing that goes with it so I can’t make important remarks about who wrote, played, etc., but the songs all contribute to a consistent idea or emotion.

4. Steeleye Span – All Around My Hat This is an oldie but goodie. The cover on this particular version shows one of those anamorphic images artists used in the Northern Renaissance to conceal a symbolic object: in this case portraits of the group. I wonder why they decided to do this? Probably it has to do with the deep underlying content of the folk songs they have included – notably “Hard Times of Old England.”

5. Ry Cooder – Boomer’s Story I heard this first at the Handworks store – “Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer,” if I remember correctly. He is another musician who explores different genres and partnerships in themed albums – a really versatile character.

6. Doc and Merle Watson – Ballads from Deep Gap Although the content of these bluegrass ballads is generally negative the speed and attack is enough to get a slow morning started. I see that it was first recorded in 1967 – time enough past for the current bluegrass revival to use it as source material. Which leads me to the next picks.

7. Anthology of American Folk Music: volumes I-III I guess this is a bit of a cheat – but I listen to it often. It is amazing how much contemporary roots/ballad/folk music owes to these little known versions of old songs. The lack of modern technological adjustment gives these voices a truth that moves through the collection.

8. Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir – Jubilation III: Glory Train Well, of course, this is all gospel music – an answer to the question, “Why should the Devil have all the good songs?” Whether you’re a believer or not, their honesty and enthusiasm come through with great power and impact. I expect it ties in with my liking for a straightforward approach to whatever it is you want to communicate.

9. Ray Bonneville – Gust of Wind My daughter played this for me, and it is one of the few contemporary CDs I have that I choose often. There’s a sort of narrative quality that ties these songs together as a musical document. I can imagine them as an ongoing map of time passing in a life ... responses to events. He sings and writes with the openness I respect in many of my other selections.

10. There are a whole bunch of others: the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” Woody Guthrie’s “That’s Why We’re Marching,” Taj Mahal’s “An Evening of Acoustic Music,” Bob Snider, Eric Clapton. As I review this list I realize that I am firmly rooted in “roots,” although I have never really defined myself through music preference. I must include John Prine, as he is the only performer I have actually paid to go and see. And he was memorable and worthy, to say the very least.