Karen Naomi

So long, farewell...

2011-07-21T23:57:00.000-05:00

Auf wiedersehen, good-bye!

I've packed my bags and relocated to tumblr. Not too much going on there just yet, but it will be action-packed soon enough. If you're following me through Google/Blogger (rather than karennaomi.com) the new addy is www.karennaomi.tumblr.com

I plan to leave this site up for archive's sake, but that's about it. New info/dates will be at the new pad... so to speak.

I'll see you there??

Until then, adieu!

Coffee & Tunes, part II

2011-07-01T00:24:00.003-05:00

Dear Reader,

I like [to sing and play my guitar for] you.

Do you like me [singing and playing my guitar for you]?!

Yes

Maybe

Love,
Karen

Dallas Show

2011-06-07T16:11:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time since I've played at Opening Bell Coffee. I'm excited once again to be joining Songwriters in the Round - this time on Monday, June 20th. Show starts at 7:30pm and there is a $5 suggested donation. Taylor Davis will be hosting!

Summer Shows Added

2011-06-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

I have a few shows lined up at both Thunderbird Coffee locations. The first of three will be June 25th at Thunderbird Koenig. RSVP on Facebook - Hope to see you then!

So

2011-06-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

I tend to keep these posts somewhat relevant / music related. Today I ask myself, "why should I be so formal?" I don't have to only speak of music; it's my blog and I can post whatever I want.

Right now I want to post about cats. Cats! Cats! Cats!

http://youtu.be/Q9NP-AeKX40?t=59s

BONUS! Music related! This is why I need an iPad. And another cat.

It's much too pink over here.

2011-04-28T16:27:00.001-05:00

I'll get right on that and tweak the font color a bit... sometime soon.

Likely even sooner, I'll be playing at Thunderbird Coffee on Manor Road in Austin on Saturday April 30th, 8pm.

On a more serious matter, my thoughts go out to the friends and family of Andrew Runciman. He tragically lost his young life last weekend while riding his bike. You can learn about his story here and here.

Be Safe,
Karen

P.S.
One more thing- very important. The motorist responsible for his death has not been found.

http://www.kvue.com/news/Austin-cyclist-killed-in-hit-and-run-120738194.html

Show Added During SXSW

2011-03-15T00:00:00.002-05:00

Wednesday 3/16 at 2pm.
Kick Butt Coffee @ The Triangle.
They sell foam nunchucks!!
Need I say more?

2nd Annual VD Artwork!

2011-02-14T22:46:00.001-06:00

I like to draw on MS paint and decided to make a regular thing of it. Here's a link to last year's picture.

XOXO!
-Karen

No Show?

2011-02-03T19:35:00.000-06:00

Womp, womp, womp.

I'm sad to report that I won't be performing at Mozart's on February 13th as originally planned, due to double booking.

I don't have any Austin shows lined up at the moment, but let's face it: it's really freaking cold out right now. Who wants to go outside?

*Cue the hot chocolate and warm blankets!

First of 2011...

2011-01-09T01:28:00.002-06:00

Ok, so today's post isn't actually on the 1st of 2011, but it is the first blog entry of the year! And I just wanted to mention that Friday marked the first show I've played for the year!

Best wishes to you and your firsts of 2011! Happy New Year!!

P.S. If interested, I clocked in at a total of 57 shows for 2010... a big leap from the 13 shows I played for 2009. :)

Yowsa!

2010-11-23T10:28:00.000-06:00

I've been updating my calendar archives (which I plan to post here soon); these list my previous shows/dates/details.

Initially, when I arrived in Austin, I didn't play live shows much in comparison to my performance schedule while living in Dallas. Late 2009 I realized I had missed playing and decided to step it up a notch.

In 2010 alone, including my weekly lunch residency, I have played 53 shows.

I'm just sayin'...

*jaw drops*

Why suddenly so girlie here?

2010-11-16T23:27:00.007-06:00

My apologies, to the 5 of you who check this site regularly, for not posting in a while. I've been meaning to post and figured now was as great a time as any.

...I'm wired from my caffeine-overdose-assisted drive home from Dallas and the hour is unmentionable. The time stamp you see on this post is a shameful cover-up.

Funny thing is, before I actually thought of what to post, I started tweaking the visual settings on this page and before I knew it- I totally changed up the place!

If you're hoping for relevant information, I'm playing in Flower Mound early December. As for Austin appearances, I'm hoping to wait out the weather until it's so cold that venues will only allow me to play indoors. A girl's gotta think about these things.

Until then...

zzzzzzzz

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (to the David Bowie Tribute night)

2010-08-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

The date for this show has been moved to Saturday, September 18th @ Dominican Joe.

In the meantime, I leave you with another tribute to Bowie, Flight of the Conchords style.

Tip Enforcement

2010-08-06T15:14:00.001-05:00

Last month at my hometown show, my super-friggin'-adorable 3-year-old niece came up to me while I was playing. Cash in hand, she suddenly became nervous and ran off before delivering the tip her parents/grandparents had given her. A lady nearby stopped my niece and kindly handed her the tip jar, encouraging her to leave the tip. Once my niece realized it was ok, she happily left the tip.

The kind lady then decided to pass the tip jar around; completely impromptu. When the tip jar made its way to my family, my niece decided to walk the tip jar around the room.

I started to feel my face become flushed when I saw my niece walking up to each and every table, placing the tip jar high on the table tops (which were nearly out of her reach)... patiently waiting for contributions.

I may have inadvertently discovered the best scam ever.

Needless to say, I walked away with a lot of cash that night. I mean really, who could say no to a face like that?

I may put up an ad for an adorable tip collector to work my Austin shows, since
my niece can only collect tips for me when I'm in the Dallas area.

August already!

2010-08-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

Karen Naomi Newsletter - August 2010 - http://eepurl.com/NpYX

Google Alerts

2010-08-04T16:47:00.003-05:00

At the advice of some musician mailing list I'm on... I dunno, probably CD Baby or something... I decided to use Google Alerts- an application that automatically delivers (to your inbox) web content of a specified (whatever your liking) topic/news interest. Basically, it's a google search. I created one for myself so that I will know right away if someone is talking about me. And rightfully so- a while back there was a music blog site which: a.) posted a random cd review of Blind, b.) reposted a myspace blog entry of mine, and c.) announced that I had uploaded a new mp3 demo to myspace. While I was flattered to be on their radar, I was not aware of these posts until other musicians pointed out that I had been mentioned on that site.

Anyway, while this is a great tool, I've discovered that it isn't exactly fine tuned. My search is: Karen Naomi. That means anything that mentions both Karen.... and.... Naomi... comes up as an alert. Not the two connected together, necessarily. Some of the searches have yeilded interesting results. I like the summary that was delivered with this alert:

Sugar daddy syndrome

The Standard

"Karen says she is living a life that is all her friends' envy...."

I am??? Wait... When did I say that?

Well, the rest of it explains why this seemingly random (it really has nothing to do with me!) alert came up:

"Counselling psychologist Naomi James from Oasis Africa says the sugar daddy syndrome can ..."

See? Karen + Naomi= entertaining Google Alerts.

July 2010 Newsletter

2010-07-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

Austin and Dallas shows coming up! Karen Naomi Newsletter - July 2010 - http://eepurl.com/G-_t

June 2010 Newsletter

2010-06-22T12:04:00.003-05:00

This went out only to Austin email recipients, but if you're curious you can take a peek.
Karen Naomi Newsletter - June 2010 - http://eepurl.com/Eiun

Free Download!

2010-06-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

https://www.noisetrade.com/karennaomi#

A couple of musicians I admire have used this. Swap your email with me for a download of my entire EP, Blind. Leave a tip if you'd like! And tell a friend!

Already on the email list? No problem, feel free to swap and download anyway. :)

Mozart's

2010-06-12T09:23:00.001-05:00

Photo by Mark Duncan

Dear Ellen, if you hire me we could take lunch breaks together

2010-05-27T00:25:00.000-05:00

Today my sister called me up to let me know she's contacted the Ellen DeGeneres show in response to the launch of Ellen's new record label, Eleven Eleven. My immediate reaction was, "Tell Ellen I'm vegan!!"

Anyway, I'm just here to spread the word and thank my sister for doing this! And many, many thanks to you if you can take a few minutes out of your day to follow my sister's Facebook instructions:

Hey everyone go to The Ellen DeGeneres Show - tell Ellen about how much you love Karen so she can get signed with Ellen

May Newsletter

2010-05-18T17:06:00.000-05:00

Karen Naomi Newsletter- May 2010 <--- Sign up and receive this directly to your inbox.

I realize all the links may look suspect, but I promise this isn't a spammer post. It's really meeeeee.

Kiddos

2010-05-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

Dear World,

Please continue to procreate because nothing makes me happier than seeing your little ones crowd around me in awe whenever I play my guitar and sing...

Lucky Lounge Acoustic Night

2010-04-19T00:31:00.009-05:00

Facebook Event Page

April 2010 Newsletter

2010-04-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to my latest newsletter if you're interested but not on the mailing list. Cheers!

No April Fooling

2010-04-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

I was laying low throughout the lovely third month of 2010, musically speaking. But during that time I've had some big personal changes, the first being a new job and the second a new place of residence here in Austin. Now that I'm getting all settled in, I have some shows lined up and I'm very much looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Happy April, hope to see you then!

Giving credit where credit is due

2010-02-27T20:44:00.001-06:00

Lately I've been complaining about how I often find myself hearing a song for the first time and liking it... right up until the time I discover the song's origins have been borrowed.

Don't get me wrong. I like covers. I've been learning a whole slew of them on a regular basis with the Tribute Nights at Dominican Joe. What I'm talking about are songs that have been fragmented and sampled. This is all good and well because it's a new take on an older idea. But imho, this has been overdone and just leaves me feeling underwhelmed.

The One And Only Patsy Cline

During my search for a song to play in preparation of last night's Patsy Cline Tribute, I came across a song titled, "He Called Me Baby." I thought to myself, could this have any connection to the song I've heared recently on the radio by One Eskimo? I queued up Patsy's tune and lo and behold... the words and melody were exactly as I had expected:

He called me baby, baby, all night long...

When I pulled up this Eskimo tune online I discovered the title is "Kandi"... as in Candi Stanton, the woman's voice who was being sampled. Sure enough, Candi's version (in its entirety) is a cover of Patsy Cline's song, but presented with a Soul twist and features that melodic riff heard on Eskimo's version.

In an effort to defend Patsy's honor I chose to play this song with her rendition in mind. I realize it may seem a little silly to make such a huge deal out of this considering Patsy isn't the songwriter... but she is the original artist who made this song famous.

I later found someone else has caught on but appears much more enthused than I.

Mood Music

2010-02-08T22:46:00.004-06:00

I just added a show for next week, I'm playing a special Valentine's Day Brunch at Counter Culture... a locally owned food cart at North Loop's I-Biz District, which features a delicious vegan menu.

Figuring since this is a Valentine's Day event, I thought I'd assemble a line-up of lovey-dovey songs. This has turned out to be a much bigger challenge than expected as most of my songs are, to put it lightly, drenched in baggage.

...Upon further inspection, I've decided to play an assortment of my least-angsty songs and throw in a few covers as well.

February Newsletter

2010-02-04T16:06:00.000-06:00

I'm soooo official. February Newsletter - http://eepurl.com/hutM

CD Baby Will Make Haiti Relief Donation for Every CD Sold

2010-01-22T15:57:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share this- beginning Monday, January 25 through the following two weeks, CD Baby will donate $1 for every CD sold. They will also donate $1 for every album download sold (priced at or above $8.99). Their donations will go to the American Red Cross and Mercy Corps for Haiti Relief efforts.

If you'd like to participate, you can browse through their vast collection of independent releases. In case you haven't purchased Blind, you can find it here but be sure to order the CD (my download price doesn't make the cut).

CDBaby.com

Austin^2

2010-01-20T23:42:00.000-06:00

I have two shows here in town later this month; Friday Jan. 29th is a tribute to Bruce Springsteen at Dominican Joe and the following night, Saturday Jan. 30th, I'll be at Thunderbird Coffee (Koenig).

So far I only have 1 Springsteen song picked out but I'm open to suggestion. I'll be playing my originals at Thunderbird Coffee. Hope to see you then!

Opening Bell w/Jacob Metcalf & Anna Procter!

2009-12-30T12:54:00.002-06:00

$5 suggested donation

Tom Petty Tribute Night Photos

2009-12-22T19:27:00.002-06:00

Although it's nearly been a couple of weeks, I thought I'd share this- Andy Thrasher took some great photos at the Tom Petty Tribute Night. Check 'em out!

Long Day Only Getting Longer

2009-12-11T00:52:00.003-06:00

So, Friday December 11th is not only the day of the Tom Petty tribute night at Dominican Joe's. It also happens to be the last day of class.

It's 12:29am and I've been up working on a project for class. The assignment? Create a media image that integrates my chosen theme (which I've been working on throughout the semester)...

One of the options was to write and record a song. How convenient.

In my defense, I've actually never written a song on command. It's always been a form of catharsis. Somehow I managed to finagle a pretty sweet tune. The tricky part is recording it.

"Why is that tricky?" You ask?

Let me tell you how completely inept I am when it comes to recording. I purchased a cassette tape recorder about six years ago when I decided to pursue music as a side-gig. And that was where I stopped. I never graduated to digital format. ProTools? Nope. Garage Band? Nuh-uh. I pay other people to deal with that crap so I don't have to. Oh, and I ditched the tape recorder after a year of making decidedly lo-fi and lo-tech demos.

I decided it was time to invest in a basic 4-track digital recorder. I went to big box music store and walked out with a Tascam Pocketstudio DP-004. I thought, I'm fairly decent with these gadgets... have you seen my pedal board? I read through the owner's manual, and since there are built-in mics, I figured I could record both vocals and guitar on one track.... this isn't a recording I'm planning on releasing; just something to turn in for class.

So the time has come... record, playback... GOOSE-EGG. Nothing was on the track. Just numbers whizzing by to mark the time.

I adjusted the internal mic sensitivity levels...

Record, playback... Again, nothing.

So why, when I have a test, a project that has yet to be completed, and a show all lined up for tomorrow, would I be up in the middle of the night typing up a blog? Because I'm sending out an S.O.S. -my desperate cry for HELP!!!

I cannot figure this ferocious little pocket studio thing out. We have battled, it has won.

Well this is awkward

2009-11-29T09:28:00.002-06:00

Since my original post on myspace demographics, my male visitors ages 35-44 have decreased by 6%. This may or may not be coincidental- regardless, I do extend my sincerest apologies if any offense was taken... it was all in good fun.

Some exciting show news: I have two weeks to learn 3 Tom Petty songs. Interested in finding out which ones?? I will unveil them on Friday Dec. 11th at Dominican Joe's in Austin on South Congress and Riverside. I'm all about suspense here.

New Stuff Around Here...

2009-11-21T00:24:00.001-06:00

As a direct result of visiting Ryan Adam's website, I've switched my music player over to Sound Cloud. So far I'm quite happy with it. There are direct "buy" links on each track that has been released- it goes to my iTunes page.

I've also adopted a new mailing list service. My deepest apologies to those of you who are already on the list and hear from me, oh, probably only a few times a year. I'll try to keep in better contact.

If you're not doing anything Christmas weekend (after the holiday, of course) and are in the Dallas area, I'll be @ Dunn Bros in Addison. As for Austin, I'm hoping to have some shows lined up in the new year. And if I don't see you before then, Happy Holidays!

Myspace Artist Dashboard: Demographics

2009-11-17T00:37:00.006-06:00

Genius that I am, not sure why I'm so surprised that the majority of visitors/friends are male...

"Visitors" (meaning not official myspace friends)

<<< lookie here!

I'm curious if those 35-44 year old males have an innate sense that I am a thirty year old female. Generally speaking, most people assume I'm much younger. I'll refrain from any sexist remarks about men having a preference for young women. Oops! I may have said too much already.

...And now I've just lost my fan-base of 35-44 year old males for alienating them. I'm sorry; I didn't mean it.

"Friends"

<<< much better

Myspace friends restore my faith in humanity! More gender balance and within my age range.

New post on DeliaKing.org

2009-09-11T00:53:00.002-05:00

Please take a moment to visit www.deliaking.org - I've posted photos of my mom taking her first steps since December.

Operation: Autonomy

2009-08-11T15:22:00.006-05:00

I spent the past several days in Dallas to a.) record, record, record and b.) play a show at Dunn Bros in Addison. I was lucky enough to spend some QT (that's Karen lingo for "quality time"... not quick trip or cutie) with some very close friends back home and also squeeze in a chance to catch a few songs from one of my new favorite singer songwriters playing a show at one of my favorite venues in the Dallas area.

After an interesting conversation with a friend Sunday night, I've decided to venture on a quest of self; Self-discovery, self-development, self-centering, selfish self, self, self.

I've realized I hold back on a lot of things, particularly since moving to Austin, out of fear of going it alone. I've missed out on shows by Austin-area artists/musicians due to my friends having other plans... I've completely lost touch with my adventurous side. I know she's in there somewhere because in the summer of 2005 I drove from Dallas to Austin by myself for ACL after a friend had to back out on our plans together. A couple of years later I decided to drive back to Austin with all of my belongings and stay put. Whatever happened to that Karen? Whatever happened to winging it??

Perhaps this newly found interest will help with the completion of a previously mentioned song.

Eyes Wide Open

2009-07-28T00:21:00.004-05:00

I went to see Glen Hansard open for Iron & Wine tonight at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. I'll be brief-

both artists performed solo acoustic this evening, which was really encouraging to me as a solo acoustic performer. They were amazing. Glen Hansard (if you haven't seen "Once" go watch it immediately) has such charisma, a very entertaining performer. I've caught Iron & Wine a few years ago at ACL, but this was my first time to see him solo... and although his harmonies are a crucial component to his songs, I'm inclined to say I actually prefer him solo. The audience was golden as well... with as many people that were in the venue, it's surprising how much of a "listening room" atmosphere it turned out to be.

I found myself, as I often do when watching other talented artists play live, thinking I should practice more, and also just flat out grateful to live in a time/place/society where I can enjoy something as simple as a live music performance.

The Glass is Half Full

2009-07-21T22:02:00.005-05:00

Recently I heard someone give their insight on what makes a good poem, and it seemed so simple, he said, "every word counts." Although I don't write poetry, I'm going to try to apply that rule to my songwriting.

Today I was working on a new song. Now, if you know me and if you're familiar with most of my songs, you'll probably agree with me when I say they tend to focus on the negative side of relationships... meaning once they're over.

Well, I wrote an opening verse that I'm actually quite proud of. It has nothing to do with relationships and it's much more optimistic than usual. The hard part is keeping up the momentum. I started penning down a second verse but had to stop myself, because I went into autopilot and began fixating on a negative theme. I decided to toss it and not finish the song until I come up with a verse that is more on par with the first.

So... wish me luck! Or optimism!

Did you cut your hair? Something's different...

2009-07-17T14:22:00.006-05:00

Welcome to my humble new blogsite/website. Today is officially the first day of Blogger hosting KarenNaomi.com

I'll be sharing both music news and personal little tid-bits. In fact, I've archived some blog entries from my previous site as well.

Hopefully you'll enjoy my writing and sense of humor as much as I do. And if not, feel free to top my literary finesse with a comment.

Summertime

2009-07-16T23:58:00.002-05:00

Summertime in Austin means hot.
Hot, hot weather.
Hot, hot humidity.
Just hot, hot, hot.

I like to take brisk walks but haven't to been to my usual hike & bike trail since the spring, on account of having some common sense. I've been itching to go back and thought if I cut my usual 4 mile route in half and went early enough in the day, I could probably manage.

I decided that day would be today.

En route I had the brilliant idea to keep pushing because I didn't feel like passing out at my 1 mile mark, and the thought of turning around to cut my walk short felt anticlimactic. So I kept on.

By mile 2, I had completely changed my tune. 4 miles, 97 degrees... FANTASTIC! All I could think was to devise a plan of action in case I found a heatstroke victim lying along the trail. That, and to make sure that person wouldn't be me!

::Never again::

I'll be in Dallas this weekend for Hendrick's CD release at the Granada. A couple of the guys from this amazing band are helping me out with my new album. Anyway, if you're in Dallas on Saturday, it'll be a great show. And air conditioned.

Feeling a little more ATX these days...

2009-07-07T22:37:00.003-05:00

I grew up in Dallas, TX and moved to Austin in March 2007.

It's taken me a while to settle here; I often find myself booking more Dallas area shows than in Austin. I also spent December '08-April '09 in the Dallas area to be closer to my mom during her hospitalization. In the past five or six months I found myself searching... trying to decide which of the two cities I should call home.

I returned to Austin a few months ago, and this summer I went back to school to persue a career in the medical field. Since then I've found that Austin isn't quite ready to see me leave... I'm truly starting to feel like this is where I belong. Here are just a few examples of why I love this place:

Earlier this evening, a couple of friends and I made a stop at the Congress bridge to watch the bats emerge at sundown, a seemingly endless trail of tiny mammals in flight. It's a popular tourist attraction, yet this was my first time. We found a spot on the bridge hovering over town lake- it's an amazing feeling to look down below you and see thousands of bats flying off into the evening sky.

During a final exam study break yesterday, I was tipped off that Terra Burger, Austin's local organic fast food joint, was giving away free food. Since they offer a vegan burger as well as vegan shakes, this was too good for me to pass up. I waited in line at the drive thru for nearly an hour and a half for my dinner... patiently reading from my textbook while in the car. It's been at least six years since the last time I picked up my dinner at a fast food restaurant. It was liberating.

To celebrate Independence Day last weekend, I had planned on attending a veggie hot dog eating contest (seriously, where else does this happen?!)... but arrived towards the end of the event and they had sold out of spectator veggie dogs. :( Instead, I met up with friends to go swimming. Later that evening, we walked to the Pedestrian Bridge for a spectacular view of the fireworks display at Town Lake.

It's only Tuesday night and I'm completely estatic about my week. Feels like home.

Benefit Show Sat. May 9th @ Opening Bell Coffee (South Side Lamar)

2009-04-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

Treat your mother to this special event honoring Mother's Day, featuring live music from local artists. Benefiting Delia King - quadruple amputee and septicemia survivor, hosted by her daughter Karen Naomi. Saturday May 9th at Opening Bell from 4pm - 12am, Suggested $10 Donation.

www.deliaking.org
www.openingbellcoffee.com

My Mom (www.DeliaKing.org)

2009-01-29T20:14:00.000-06:00

Please take a moment to visit www.DeliaKing.org - a site I've created to share my mother's journey as she recovers from a life-threatening bacterial infection, meningococcemia.