Karen Patricia Lovely (born November 23, 1959) is an American
electric blues
Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...
singer and songwriter. Lovely has released five albums to date, with her most recent being ''Fish Outta Water'' (2017). She was a nominee at the 2016
Blues Music Award
The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...
s as "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year".
Lovely is known for her "passionate, driven performances", and her "powerfully sultry" voice.
Life and career
Karen Lovely, who was born in
, United States, is the eldest of nine siblings and initially sang in the local church choir. In 1987, she relocated to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England, where she gave her first public performance, before returning to Los Angeles six months later.
Lovely started singing the blues professionally in September 2007 and released her debut album, ''Lucky Girl'', in November 2008. Lovely and her band claimed second place in the band category, at the 2010
International Blues Challenge
The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation.
Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...
.
Her 2010 offering, ''Still the Rain'', was also released by Pretty Pear Records.
She and her band have appeared at the
Waterfront Blues Festival
The Waterfront Blues Festival is an annual event in Portland, Oregon, United States featuring four days of performances by blues musicians. The festival started in 1988 and takes place in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, along the west bank of the Wil ...
, the
Britt Festival
The Britt Music & Arts Festival is a non-profit performing arts festival located in Jacksonville, Oregon. Since its creation it has been among the premier performing arts festivals in the Northwest, and has managed to attract high-profile and loc ...
, and the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...
's Green Show.
Her album ''Ten Miles of Bad Road'' (2015), was recorded at Ultratone Studios in
Studio City
Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Her backing comprised
Johnny Lee Schell
Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the late 1960s, he first recorded with producer Norman Petty in Group Axis. In the 1970s, he joined Amarillo TX southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he has played with ...
and Alan Mirikitani on guitar,
James "Hutch" Hutchinson
James Hutchinson (born January 24, 1953) is an American session bassist best known for his work with Bonnie Raitt. Though his work takes him nearly everywhere he primarily resides in Studio City, Los Angeles, CA and Haiku-Pauwela, Hawaii.
Ca ...
on bass, Jim Pugh on piano and keyboards, with
Tony Braunagel
Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...
on drums and record production. There was a guest appearance by
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top 40 ...
on harmonica. The 13 tracks included 12 original songs written by Lovely, Dave Fleschner, Vyasa Dodson, Alan Mirikitani and Dennis Walker. The title track was inspired by
Curtis Salgado
Curtis Salgado (born February 4, 1954, in Everett, Washington, United States) is a Portland, Oregon-based blues, blues rock, and blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter. He plays harmonica and fronts his own band as lead vocalist.
Career
Salgado b ...
, who also shared the songwriting credits with Lovely and Fleschner.
In 2017, Lovely toured across North America, with concert dates in Switzerland in April that year.
Discography
Albums
References
External links
Official website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovely, Karen
1959 births
Living people
21st-century American singer-songwriters
Electric blues musicians
American blues singers
American women singer-songwriters
21st-century American women singers
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts