Tell us a little something about the young Suzanne Palmer?
Well, first off I was a mistake baby. All of my siblings are much older than me. I was born and raised right here on the Southside of Chicago and thus I was affectionately known as "the white girl, third in from the left."

How about the young musical Suzanne Palmer? How did she come about?
I would hear my brother in the basement with his garage rock band and at the same time hear my dad upstairs in the living room practicing with his jazz group. And then my mother would be playing Billie Holiday and Judy Garland records. But the first person who really caught my undivided attention and became my initial inspiration was Chaka Khan.

How did you venture over from gospel, jazz, and R&B to start a dance music relationship with Peter Rauhofer?
I knew Mark Picchiotti here in Chicago and introduced me to Rob DiStefano at Twisted Records in 1995. Then Rob introduced me to Peter, who had me over to Vienna, Austria to record a song for him. Peter really liked my voice, so instead of one song I ended up singing on four of the tracks that were on the Club 69 Style release back in 1997.

You have this new artist album, Home, that has just been released: a collection of 14 uptempo dance-oriented tracks, including your chart-topping songs from the past year. You're again paired with Peter Rauhofer.
We've worked together so much over the past decade and really understand each other artistically. While I definitely was more involved in this project than just being a "hired gun," the CD is based more off of Peter's vision. I trust my voice completely with him and thus I think we have something really special here.

You've got some of the very best dance music producers in the business working on the CD: Rauhofer, David Morales, Angel Moraes, Murk, and Cevin Fisher. How was it working with so many of the top names?
It was a really great experience for me and helped to bring a versatility to the CD that makes it that much stronger.

Anything extra special or out of the ordinary about the process for you?
Well yes, actually. My husband and I adopted our daughter right during the making this record last year. She's from China and so we went over there for two weeks to finalize everything and then brought her back to the States. The adoption process really was an incredible experience for us and helped to complete our family. The symbolism of making our home complete in the midst of making this CD, that's in part why I went with the title of "Home" for the entire project.

Will you be touring in the coming weeks and months in support of the new CD?
Well, I've already performed in the past two months in New York City, Atlanta, Toronto, and of course at Circuit Nightcklub in Chicago. I'll be hitting other cities for weekend club dates later in August and into the fall as well.

Everyone I know has their favorite Suzanne Palmer song. So what is your favorite track?
I don't know if I have a favorite. It kind of depends on what mood I'm in.

That's fair, I guess. Most parents don't really have a favorite child, though they may favor one child over another depending on the particular time and circumstances.
No wait. Now that I think about it, I'd have to say that "Luv 2 Luv" is my favorite Suzanne Palmer track. When I first brought my daughter home from China that was the next song we were making for the album. It was just the perfect song in light of all that was going on with me and I remember singing that song to her and just being so happy. So yes, I do have a favorite after all!