Sue Rynhart is an Irish vocalist and acoustic guitarist who has sung with international Jazz artists, Rick Peckham, Tom Arthurs and Florian Ross. She has premiered works by many of the composers from the Irish Composers Collective & the Contemporary Music Centre and and has performed on BBC Radio with the Choir of Christchurch Cathedral Dublin. She has been featured extensively on Róisín Ingle’s Irish Times podcast Róisín meets and on Bernard Clarke’s award winning radio programme Nova on RTÉ Lyric fm. Sue lives in Dublin and has three children, aged fifteen, thirteen and seven.
UK Jazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?
Sue Rynhart: Take your time.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
SR: As long as you’re proud of your work, it doesn’t matter what other people think of it.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:
SR: Cherish every minute you have with your kids.
UKJN: Travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice. This can be gear or gadget-related, or pertain to approach/what to do/what not to do:
SR: Try to get help from friends and family and make sure that you reciprocate and let the people who help you know that you appreciate their help.
UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?
SR: Understand that doing a stint of lots of gigs is most likely to be unrealistic for some parents of young children. Support artists during this precious time in life, do try to offer them gigs that do not tie in with a tour. Musicians who are parents will engage in sustainable touring when they are in a position to do so.
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
SR: Once our kids came along, I became more creative.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
SR: Boundaries are important but involving the family in the process is important too. They can see how much work and dedication it takes to make your dreams come true. They can see you achieving this and they know that they are helping to make this happen and they are a part of it all. I think it’s a good message to send to young people as it might encourage them to realise their own ambitions too.
Sue’s new album ‘Say Pluto’ features Huw Warren and Dan Bodwell and was released on 11 October 2024. Upcoming tour dates include a performance at Sunset/Sunside Jazz Club for Jazzycolors Festival in Paris, France on Thursday 28 November 2024.
(*) Parents in Jazz was started (first as ‘Mothers In Jazz’) by vocalist Nicky Schrire in August 2022. The initiative aims to create an online resource for jazz industry professionals with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians and administrators interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Parents In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a parent and a performing jazz musician or jazz arts professional.
