We about 15 seats available as of this email.
We're bringing mandolin, guitar, cello, violin and heart filled songs to fill the space...
It might sound like this:
or even like this:
Karen Mal sings. From raw sensuality to shimmering bell-like clarity, her voice is both tender and powerful, and as effortless as a waterfall. There's a river that flows between Karen and her audience. It's about love. The possibility and the unbearable beauty of it. Elusive and abundant at the same time.
Based in Austin, TX, Karen has created a name for herself as a captivating singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Ranging from charming to seductive, impressionistic to philosophical, her songs have brought her nationwide acclaim. Shes won top awards from the Wildflower Arts and Music Festival in Texas, the Tucson Folk Festival and the Portland Songwriters Association and has also been a three time New Folk Finalist at Kerrville, emerging artist at Falcon Ridge and a finalist at the Sisters Folk Festival.
Karen has released three CDs on Waterbug records, starting with Mercury's Wings in 2002. Karen Mal is riding a musical high, raved Sing Out! Magazine about her debut. The title song is a beautiful tribute to her friend, mentor and collaborator, the late Fred Alley. Dark Eyed Sailor was next, a collection of traditional Celtic songs. The title cut won the Celtic Radio Music Award for best song in 2006. Her newest release, The Space Between, came out in late 2007 and has been getting extensive airplay, reaching #6 on the Folk DJ Chart in November.
When she's not singing her own songs she's in high demand as a mandolinist and bassist appearing with Ronny Cox, Buddy Mondlock, Jonathan Byrd, Sam Baker, Ken Gaines and many, many others at Kerrville, Woodyfest and stages across the country. Karen has worn so many hats for so long, that on stage, theres nothing she cant do. You dont just get hot licks; you get melody, counterpoint, and a sense of rhythm that eases the whole sound deeper into the groove. Just ask Celtic superstars Cherish the Ladies who invited Karen to tour with them in 2005.
She grew up in small-town Plainville, CT, which is exactly what it sounds like, rows of little houses and quiet people with cats and televisions, She found she was best off creating her own entertainment. "I always had music in my bones. I don't remember a time when I couldn't read music, or sing harmony," says Karen. Her mother wrote in the scrapbook she kept, "8 months old - Karen sings herself to sleep in her crib." It wasn't until she was ten years old that she found her grandpa's long-forgotten old Gibson guitar in the attic. Karen was off and running.
After high school, she earned a degree in Music and Theater from Long Island University and moved to New York City -- a hundred miles and a galaxy away from Plainville. She started hitting the auditions, winning parts in Shakespeare plays, children's theater and regional theater productions. Then came an audition that changed Karen's life. These guys were in jeans and flannel shirts instead of New York theater chic and the audition was as much about her musical creativity as it was about her acting chops. Karen was immediately offered a contract with the American Folklore Theater in Door County, Wisconsin, a company producing original plays and musicals that tell the American story through the eyes and experiences of the immigrants, pioneers, native peoples and just plain everyday folks of Wisconsin. With a double role as actor and musician, Karen began a love affair with folk music.
AFT was a perfect fit for Karen too, and that first season's contract extended to seven more. While there she developed her mandolin skills and was called on to play a raft of other instruments including, fiddle, clarinet, psaltery, bass, flute, bodhran and of course guitar. She also made her first creative forays into writing songs and became the resident composer/musical director for Door Shakespeare in Baileys Harbor, WI, a title she still carries. Most importantly, this new creative challenge gave her a sense of musical direction. The girl who could sing and play in just about any style realized that she could write, too.
In late 1999 she made the move to Austin, leaving theater behind to play music full-time. She quickly became a favorite among the pickers and writers of a city that's become the hub of the American roots music scene. And now the rest of the country has discovered her too.
Karen Mal has a storyteller's voice, sifting words like she is talking to you over coffee, effortlessly rising from dusky phrases to bell-pure highs. You believe every word and note and you could listen to her sing all night long.
--Michael Devlin, Music Matters
AUSTIN - Native Texan Jen Mulhern has been performing in Austin and the surrounding
Central Texas areas for the past 15 years as both a classical and improvisational artist.
She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from Texas State University-
San Marcos after performing with the Texas State Symphony as principal cellist for four
years. Ms. Mulhern’s work as a freelance cellist with an adventurous spirit has led to
performances with an eclectic lineup of artists such as Amanda Palmer, Michael Buble,
Deltron 3030, Edgar Meyer, and Wilson Phillips. She has also co-written and
collaborated with countless singer/songwriters and is well known for her quick ear and
on-the- spot arranging during recording sessions.
Inspired by the vibrant music scene in Austin, TX, Jen began working with improvised
compositions using acoustic and electric cello with a live loop station. In 2014 she
released DVD footage of a full-length live concert titled ‘Jenuine Cello-Live at Café
Crème’, which captures the visual/musical collaboration with artist Topher Sipes.
“Jenuine Cello is a captivating model of a one-woman band. Her live compositions take
listeners on a road trip free from genre and saturated with an array of influences. With
undercurrents of Bach and Bjork and everything in between, this project demonstrates
the power of the cello looped, layered and mixed with glitchy self-made beats and bass.”
Ms. Mulhern maintains a private cello studio in Austin, TX, teaches private and group
classes at the Austin Waldorf School, and currently performs with the Victoria
Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony and as principal cellist of the Laredo
Philharmonic. She has been a featured clinician/performer at the Coastal Bend and
Songbird Suzuki String Camps and served as Director of the Texas State Strings Camp
from 2003-2012. During her years directing the TSSC and through her workshop “Plug
In and Play Out!,” Ms. Mulhern is devoted to helping young musicians embrace a spirit of
creativity, playfulness and versatility.
To hear audio clips or find out more, visit www.jenuinecello.com
