"I suppose it''s just life, dropping low, swooping high, in a wild loop de loop" (My Parachute). On Loop de Loop Susan Anders writes about the highs and lows of the big three Ls: life, love, and loss.     Singer-songwriter Susan Anders may be best known as a harmony vocal guru: thousands of singers have studied with her or used her method Harmony Singing by Ear and her iPhone app Sing Harmonies. So when she began arranging the songs that became Loop de Loop she indulged her love of layered vocals. The results range from the simple gospel harmonies on "A Better Me" to the tapestry of overlapping vocals in the coda of "I Keep Forgetting You"; from the jazz harmonies of “Aimless” to the tribal repetition of “No Mother’s Daughter”. Anders brought in several noted Nashville singer-songwriters to sing her arrangements, among them Phoebe Elliot, Kyshona Armstrong, Mary Bragg, Sarah Aili, and Barbara Santoro. The production is subtle but textured, highlighting the singers: Anders and her husband, producer/guitarist Tom Manche, mostly play acoustic guitars, with Dave Francis on bass, Al Hill on keyboards, and Jim Hoke on clarinet. Left-of-center percussion throughout the CD comes from Manche and noted East Nashville drummer Bryan Owings: Manche slaps his thighs on "I Keep Forgetting You", while Owings shakes some chains on “No Mother’s Daughter”. The result is part Americana, part soul, part eclectic folk-pop, always compelling.         Anders’ previous album Swimmer was completed as the flood waters were rising in Nashville: Loop de Loop finds Anders five years later living in East Nashville with Manche, after her mold allergies forced them to move from the damp woods of West Nashville (“City City”). During the years since Swimmer’s release Anders watched the people of Nashville recover from the flood (“More Trouble, More Love”), lost some friends (“Up and Over”), watched another friend find love in middle age (“How Far We Get”), and witnessed the bi-polar nature of life as only the daughter of a bi-polar mother can (“My Parachute” and “No Mother’s Daughter”).         Anders has always been drawn to vocal harmonies. One of her first memories growing up in Berkeley, California was hearing Ray Charles and the Raelettes singing “Hit the Road, Jack”. She soaked up Beatles, Motown, and Simon & Garfunkel harmonies as a child, and then studied music at U.C. Santa Cruz and S.F. State. She formed her a cappella quintet The Distractions while at UCSC, then spent the 1980s fronting her rock band Slantstep in the Bay Area. Side gigs included singing in a cappella and Motown cover bands, teaching doo-wop to Buddhist monks, and delivering singing telegrams dressed as a fully set table. After moving to Los Angeles in 1990 and meeting Manche, she toured and recorded with Susan’s Room for the rest of the decade.         After moving with Manche to Nashville, Tennessee in 2002, Anders recorded two solo albums, Release (2005), and Swimmer (2010). Her songs have been recorded by numerous independent country, soul, and Americana artists like the Four Bitchin' Babes, The Irrationals, Renee Hayes, and The Viper Creek Band. Anders also released her instructional methods Harmony Singing by Ear, More Harmony Singing by Ear, and the Sing Harmonies iPhone App, among others.