Born for country
Gowrie musician Spencer Suchan balances day job, cattle and a rising country career
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GOWRIE -- On weekend nights, Spencer Suchan trades his day job for a guitar and a stage at Shiny Top Brewing in Fort Dodge, the latest stop in a country music career that started almost by accident.
Suchan, 20, grew up in Gowrie, where music was always part of his life. He picked up guitar playing for family members on occasion, but he never set out to perform for a crowd. That changed while he was working in the kitchen at Shiny Top Brewing, making pizzas.
"The owner, Nate McCubbin, figured out I played the guitar," Suchan said. "He suggested I play there."
Suchan now performs at the brewery nearly every weekend -- Friday and Saturday, and sometimes Sunday.
During the week, he works full time at Webster-Calhoun Telephone in Gowrie. His weekends off the stage are just as busy. He team ropes on select weekends and raises purebred Hereford cattle. He's also started taking fiddle lessons, driving to practice out of town, in between everything else.
Despite the packed schedule, Suchan said he isn't chasing a specific five-year plan.
"I don't really have a set-in-stone plan, but if I'm still making music, it would be super fun," he said. "I really like my job, and I'm kind of just going with the flow for the moment and having fun."
That laid-back approach carries into his songwriting. His first original song was born out of the old country records he grew up listening to.
"My first song was called 'Honky Tonks and Country Music,'" Suchan said. "I listen to a lot of old country songs, and it was sort of inspired by them -- but not about anything in particular."
That song lent its name to his debut EP, "Honky Tonks and Country Music," which is out now and includes three original songs he wrote himself. The EP is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and YouTube.
He doesn't point to one song or artist as his gateway into music, but a handful of country legends set him on the path.
"No particular song, but artists like Merle Haggard, George Jones and George Strait made me want to get into it," he said.