New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Karen Clancy Official Website) Karen Clancy, a blues singer/songwriter from Florida, has released her first LP, self-titled. "The album,
Karen Clancy, is a culmination of a life that has always had a soundtrack," says Clancy.
The record showcases her adroit, tender handling of traditional blues tenets while remaining a modern interpretation of classic, deep-south undertones. The album is markedly comprehensive, boasting rich components of jazz, classical, and Irish folk music, and marks the beginning of her available catalog.
Her collaboration with Mark Hodgson inspired the inclusion of several blues classics, such as Bessie Smith's "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home," Rosa Henderson's "Don't Advertise Your Man," and the standard, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out."
Geoff Weeks accompanies on the piano, of which performance Clancy has said, "His talent must be mentioned fervently...these songs came to life in his hands."
"Back in the Day" is Clancy's memoir of growing up on the beachside of New Smyrna: "Back in the day I used to sneak, underage, into the local clubs to hear Southwire, a band in which Billy Chapin played guitar. Who would've thought all these years later I would be recording my first album in his studio?"
Of the Gaelic influence on her work Clancy writes, "As the youngest of ten Clancy siblings it is difficult to ignore the Irish influence written into my DNA. 'She Moved Through The Fair' is a nod to that history while breaking with tradition using the Universal
Energy of the Sitar as an accompaniment, played beautifully by Rick deYampert."
Clancy's influences include Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters,
Junior Wells, Ethel Waters, Stephane Grapelli, and Big Mama Thornton.
She has performed at myriad locales, including New Smyrna Beach, Miami, Key West, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, Colorado, Chicago, D.C., Vermont, Hana, Madrid, Bruges, Paris, and Venice.
The LP "Karen Clancy" is available for purchase and download from iTunes, or at her website, https://www.karenclancy.net.