Cliff & Susan Biography
Cliff & Susan
Imagine if Charlie Daniels married a female Jerry Lee Lewis.
That’s Cliff & Susan.
Cliff & Susan are a married, Arkansas-based country music duo known for turning every room into a dance floor. With fiddle, piano, guitar, and powerhouse harmonies at the center of their sound, they deliver high-energy, participation-driven shows that blur the line between concert and community.
Rather than simply playing sets, Cliff & Susan host rooms. Their live performances are built to move people quickly, convert passive listeners into participants, and leave audiences feeling like they belong.
They perform more than 200 shows per year across the U.S. and internationally, regularly filling venues to capacity with standing-room-only energy. Their shows are rooted in musicianship, groove, and connection, blending dance-first country with rock, blues, and soul influences.
The Story
Cliff and Susan met on stage in Little Rock in 2016, where both the musical and personal chemistry was immediate. They formed their duo soon after and eloped in Las Vegas in 2017.
Since then, they have toured internationally in over seven countries and shared the stage with national acts including ZZ Top, Sawyer Brown, and Niko Moon. They currently hold a long-running residency at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Arkansas, performing throughout the annual Thoroughbred racing season.
Their signature song, “Fiddle & Keys,” earned them a national television performance on The Huckabee Show in February 2023. Their debut album, Fiddle & Keys, released in October 2023, charted Top 40 on the U.S. iTunes Country Albums Chart and has become the foundation of their live show and brand.
Awards & Recognition
Cliff & Susan have quickly become one of the most awarded independent country acts in their region.
2025 Arkansas Country Music Awards
- Entertainer of the Year
- Vocal Duo/Group of the Year
- Album of the Year (Fiddle & Keys)
2025 Josie Music Awards (Grand Ole Opry)
- Best Vocal Duo – Country (Winner)
Their single “Spitfire” won Music Video of the Year at the 2025 Fayetteville Film Festival.
They have also earned multiple additional nominations across major independent and regional award platforms, including the Josie Music Awards and Arkansas Country Music Awards, recognizing their songwriting, production, and live performance excellence.
A Proven Live Force
Cliff & Susan’s shows are known for:
- Dance-first energy and immediate crowd engagement
- Seamless integration of original music that feels instantly familiar
- High-level musicianship anchored by fiddle and piano
- The ability to hold audiences for extended, high-energy performances
Their catalog spans over 2,000 songs, allowing them to adapt in real time while maintaining a clear artistic identity. Their originals are pressure-tested nightly in live rooms, giving them a rare advantage in developing songs that translate across venues, festivals, and larger stages.
Beyond the Stage
In 2017, Cliff & Susan founded Big Red Dog Productions, a Little Rock-based music production company. They are also the creators of the award-winning Yadaloo Music & Arts Festival, which earned them Arkansas Country Music Awards Promoter of the Year recognition.
In 2022, they launched Entertainers Academy, an education platform designed to help independent artists build sustainable, profitable careers in the modern music industry.
The Bigger Picture
Cliff & Susan represent a new model of independent country artists. They combine relentless touring, entrepreneurial ownership, and a deep understanding of live audience psychology to build careers on their own terms.
With a growing national footprint, an award-winning catalog, and a reputation for unforgettable live experiences, Cliff & Susan are positioning themselves as one of the most compelling independent country duos emerging today.
Every show is an invitation.
Come on in.
SUSAN ERWIN PROWSE BIOGRAPHY
Susan Erwin Prowse is an international performing artist whose true home is behind a piano. Known for her versatile and expressive voice, impressive skills as a multi-instrumentalist, and commanding yet deeply personal stage presence, Susan has a rare ability to make every person in the room feel seen, included, and part of the show.
Over a career spanning more than two decades, Susan has performed thousands of live shows across the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe. Her work now reaches national and international audiences as one half of the award-winning country duo Cliff & Susan, winners of multiple 2025 Arkansas Country Music Awards including Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year (Fiddle & Keys), and Vocal Duo/Group of the Year, along with Best Vocal Duo – Country at the 2025 Josie Music Awards held at the Grand Ole Opry. Their debut album Fiddle & Keys charted Top 40 on the Apple (iTunes) Country Albums chart, and their music has been featured on national television, including an appearance on Huckabee performing their signature song “Fiddle & Keys.”
Beyond the stage, Susan is increasingly recognized as a creative entrepreneur and community builder. She co-owns Big Red Dog Productions and has been honored by Arkansas Money & Politics as one of its 2025 Trailblazing Women in Arkansas and as a 2025 Achiever in Their Forties, spotlighting her leadership in both music and business. She is also active in festival and event production, helping develop platforms that elevate independent artists across Arkansas and beyond.
Susan began her professional music career in 2003 in the Midwestern United States. From Little Rock, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and beyond, she steadily built a reputation as a high-energy, emotionally connected live performer. In 2010, she began touring internationally each year, performing in venues throughout the Caribbean and Europe.
In October 2015, Susan launched her signature Pink Piano Show, which became a fan favorite and long-running success during race season at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Arkansas. That residency helped cement her reputation as a performer capable of commanding rooms night after night with originality, musicianship, and audience connection.
As a recording artist, Susan released her first self-produced 12-song original album Painting You Gone out of Nashville in 2014. In 2016, she followed with the EP Ain’t My Baby Grand, recorded at Beaird Music Group in Nashville, Tennessee. Her songwriting and recordings reflect the same emotional honesty and storytelling that define her live performances.
Early Career & Background
Susan discovered her passion for music growing up in Magnet Cove, Arkansas, a small southern town where she was raised on her parents’ 250-acre farm. She began classical piano lessons as a child and soon found herself performing in churches, pageants, and talent competitions. In high school, she graduated as Class President, Valedictorian, and a four-sport athlete.
She attended the University of Central Arkansas, where she was a member of the Honors College, performed in the university jazz band, and served as President of Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority, Upsilon Chapter. Susan competed in the Miss Arkansas Pageant as Miss University of Central Arkansas and later as Miss Saline River.
After graduating with honors and a degree in Pure Mathematics, Susan began a career as a Radio Frequency Engineer with Alltel Telecommunications. She also earned her Private Pilot’s License in June 2009 at Central Flying in Little Rock, Arkansas. Despite success in the corporate world, music remained her calling.
In a calculated leap of faith, Susan left her engineering career to pursue music full time. After working her way through piano bars, Branson theater shows, and a lucrative house gig in Los Angeles, she relocated to Las Vegas in 2011. There, her risk paid off, marking a turning point where her lifelong dedication to music became a full-fledged, sustainable career.
Today, Susan’s work blends elite musicianship with heart-forward storytelling, leadership, and community building. Whether performing solo or alongside her husband and creative partner Cliff, she continues to build a career defined not by trends, but by connection, consistency, and the belief that live music is meant to bring people together.
CLIFF PROWSE BIOGRAPHY
Cliff Prowse is an Arkansas-born singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who was quite literally born into music. From tapping in time as a baby to mastering multiple instruments at a young age, music has always been his native language. Cliff comes by it honestly. His father, Philip Prowse, is a successful singer and songwriter and one of the original members and guitarists of the nationally recognized rock band Tragikly White.
At age three, Cliff was given his first drum set, and by age ten he began violin lessons with renowned instructor Tommy Henderson, launching what would become a lifelong devotion to the fiddle. Today, Cliff is a true multi-instrumentalist, proficient on fiddle, electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums, mandolin, and more, with a reputation for musicianship that serves the song first and the spotlight second.
Cliff’s distinctive voice, musical versatility, and deep respect for tradition have taken him from winning fiddle competitions and People’s Choice awards at the legendary Mountain View, Arkansas folk festivals to sharing stages and rounds with A-list players across the country. His journey has included work as a Nashville Music Row session musician and years as an international touring artist, earning him recognition as one of the most respected fiddlers and instrumentalists in his region.
In 2018, Cliff was nominated for Arkansas Country Music Awards Fiddler of the Year, a reflection of both his technical excellence and emotional command of the instrument. On fiddle, he has shared the stage with Charlie Daniels, whose influence is deeply woven into Cliff’s approach to performance and storytelling. Additional fiddle influences include Britt Curry (former fiddle player for Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, and Blake Shelton) and Tim Crouch, one of Nashville’s most legendary A-list session players.
As a guitarist, Cliff draws inspiration from country greats such as Brad Paisley, Brent Mason, and Albert Lee, while his rock and blues influences include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey, Joe Bonamassa, and, most personally, his father. This wide-ranging influence gives Cliff a rare ability to move seamlessly between genres while maintaining a signature sound that feels both rooted and electric.
Cliff is also a highly versatile songwriter and producer, with a catalog that spans country, bluegrass, rock, pop, and gospel. As a producer, he co-produced Cliff & Susan’s award-winning debut album Fiddle & Keys. The album went on to win Album of the Year at the 2025 Arkansas Country Music Awards and charted Top 40 on the Apple (iTunes) Country Albums chart. Cliff has also been nominated at the Arkansas Country Music Awards for Music Producer of the Year, further underscoring his behind-the-scenes impact on modern country recordings.
With Cliff & Susan, he has earned three major 2025 Arkansas Country Music Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Duo/Group of the Year, and Album of the Year for Fiddle & Keys. The duo was also honored with Best Vocal Duo – Country at the 2025 Josie Music Awards held at the Grand Ole Opry. Their work has drawn multiple Josie Music Awards nominations and has been featured on national television, including a performance of “Fiddle & Keys” on Huckabee, helping establish Cliff as a standout modern country fiddler and bandleader.
Today, Cliff continues to write, arrange, produce, provide session work, and perform worldwide alongside his wife and creative partner Susan Erwin Prowse as one half of the award-winning duo Cliff & Susan. Together, they are known for their high-energy, musicianship-forward live shows, their signature fiddle-and-keys sound, and their ability to turn every room into a shared musical experience rooted in connection, movement, and joy.