Carey Creed

When Carey was a child, her dad used to play Tin Pan Alley tunes on piano every day. This may have been the impetus for Carey to craft her first piano songs. As a teen, she was inspired by the music of Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell to compose her own acoustic guitar-driven social justice and love songs, which she played at anti-war protests and D.C. coffeehouses.

Over the years Carey has performed with jug bands, rock groups, big bands, and Black gospel choirs. These influences merge in her music—which may account for her numerous awards which include two WAMMIES from the Washington Area Music Association for her Gospel vocals and a couple of first place awards in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest.

Genre-jumping has also led to collaborations with many other artists; Carey has been a guest on more than 20 album projects. Other collaborative highlights include live performances with Grace Griffith, Tom Prasada-Rao, and Mosaic Harmony at venues such as Kerrville Folk Festival, the Institute of Musical Traditions and the Birchmere.

Carey's first CD, "Plum Branch," came about as a result of major changes in her life. Music and poetry became lifelines as she dealt with the death of her husband combined with her own struggles with cancer and scleroderma.

The story behind the CD's title is that her husband had given her a home-made card with an ancient Vietnamese poem on the cover entitled "Rebirth." After he died, Carey set the poem to music. The title came from the poem's description of a plum branch blossoming even after Spring was gone.

Blix Street Records has released Grace Griffith's version of “Rebirth,” which has been broadcast on Public Radio's syndicated show “Midnight Special.” Grace's newest CD on Blix features another Creed co-write, this time with Fred Sisson: "Passing Thoughts."

“I’ll Know You,” Carey’s most recent release, including radio airplay magnets “Chloe” and “Mountain Cathedrals,” was produced with Tom Prasada-Rao and was engineered by Grammy award-winning Bill Wolf.

Carey’s music has been featured on radio and television by the DC area’s most treasured and legendary hosts, Dick Cerri, Lee Michael Demsey, Mary Cliff and Damien Einstein and has garnered favorable press such as this excerpt from "Woman Today" by Anna Garris Goiser: "She infuses [her lyrics] with such expression, such spirit, that they are literally transformed ...one is aware of witnessing a quiet miracle.”

Carey continues to evolve as a writer and musician while inspiring and engaging audiences at coffeehouses, folk festivals, Black gospel/interfaith concerts, and inspirational retreats.