Karen Fowlie

"Wow! …What a great performance you gave Victoria House Concert B! Hope the tour went well' R. Andrew Briggs (Concert Promoter): - R. Andrew Briggs (Victoria House Concerts B)

"Karen Fowlie brings a genuine warmth and vitality to her stage presence...engaging audiences with a generous mix of positive vibe along with her infectious energy." - B. J. Doyle, Coast Reporter

“Thank you for performing this weekend! You guys sounded great and definitely made a few fans!” - Jill Slattery, North Vancouver Community Arts Council

CD REVIEW: Calgary Songwriter.com
KAREN FOWLIE - Pushing The Edge
yeah... a hot babe turnin' her life around and never lookin' back, This one pulled it off in style. A move to Van, a hot producer, and a cast of top ne'er do wells, the work kicks off with a country pop number that is essentially candy precluding a trip into "songwritergirl with heavy band land".

There are some very cool latin/acoustic flourishes to keep things interesting and as the voodoo develops one begins to appreciate the prowess of the ensemble as a whole. The production here is stellar "Vancouver old school" with guitars grinding and far up in the mix. To the quick, this disc is a blast of west coast pro rock styler crunch with "songstress givin' it all".
The word on the street is the disc has been picked up by a Warner affiliate and is on the rise. ... nuff said, rock lives....disc highly recommended.

Alex Boisselle

- Alex Boiselle

Guitar Goddess – Musician Karen Fowlie will play an acoustic set of original songs from her new album Pushing the Edge at Beans on Lonsdale May 31. For more information visit karenfowlie.com

Alyssa Noel

It’s always nice to visit your past and reaffirm that you made the right decision to leave it behind. Karen Fowlie, for example, recently decided to take a trip to Calgary, her former home city. Unfortunately the visit coincided with a freak May snowstorm.
“I brought my Vancouver clothes”, she lamented on the phone from the chilly city, referring to her suitcase full of flip-flops, shorts and apparel that generally doesn’t mix with sub-zero temperatures.
Fowlie now lives in Lions Bay where she’s pursuing a full time music career. Although she’s been singing since she was six, she is only now releasing her first full length album, Pushing the Edge.
She’s never toured outside of Western Canada but Fowlie has still managed to garner praise via her My Space site form out of country fans. “Our industry is changing so much. Before (my goal) was trying to obtain a record deal and now it’s communication through the electronic world”, she explained. Fowlie’s music falls somewhere between Sheryl Crow and the pre-gyrating Nelly Furtado.
She decided to ditch the folk-country dominated scene in Cowtown where she had been rounding the coffee shop and bar circuit for over seven years and head further west into a scene better suited to her music.
“It was the sound of the music that was being created at the time. I was really attracted to some of the local bands that were making headway. In Calgary the sound was different. It was much more roots based”, she said.
The move proved to be productive. Fowlie’s most recent accomplishment was earning a slot at the 16th New Music West Festival in Vancouver where she played along with 200 up and coming acts, including Apostle of Hustle, a project of Broken Social Scenester Andre Whiteman and piano virtuoso/multi-instrumentalist Royal Wood.
Like Wood, Fowlie was schooled in classical music and can wail on a variety of instruments.
“I guess I’ve always had my finger in the music scene even from playing classical instruments like the French horn and classical guitar”, she said.
Next up is a show at Beans on Lonsdale in North Vancouver. Fowlie will leave behind and climb up on stage (no easy task, considering she’s eight months pregnant) with an acoustic guitar in hand to perform stripped-down versions of the original songs you’ll hear on her album.
For more information, or to sample Fowlies music, visit karenfowlie.com
- North Shore Outlook

Vancouver Province Playlist December 15, 2009
vancouverprovince.com - Vancouver Province

To whom it may concern;

Karen Fowlie, along with her band were featured at this year’s Copper and Fire Festival, Aug 10, 2008 held at the BC Museum of Mining.

It was such a pleasure to have her perform there. She is a total professional and an absolute thrill as a performer. Her songs, along with her personality hit all the right chords with our audience. She and her band were the highlight of the main stage. She raised the bar for all our future performers.

I would highly recommend her to anyone who would like to book her.

Adriane Polo
Copper and Fire Coordinator
BC Museum of Mining
604-896-2233
- Copper and Fire Festival HEADLINER

Singing Cook - Karen Fowlie has a lot to smile about these days with her first album out and a new child to raise. And she still makes time to cook up her famous apple torte.

Looking Cool - Lions Bay recording artist Karen Fowlie while celebrating a new child and new album "Pushing the Edge" still has time to cook up her cool apple torte crust. - North Shore Outlook

Sunny Sundays - Karen Fowlie brings her brand of sparkly alt. country to the Sunny Sunday s concerts at Christie house Aug 3 from 1:30-3:00pm. 247 Queens Road North Vancouver. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. Free Admission and refreshments. - North Shore Outlook

By JESinger/songwriter left the 9-to5- workaday world to pursue lifelong passion of music. NNIFER MALONEY Staff Reporter

Karen Fowlie is living the dream, as documented on her carefully torn jeans that also don her name in square cut-out letters and shimmering rhinestones.
The pants were a gift from Deep Cove designer, Janice Lang, who insightfully threaded the words that describe the Albertan beauty’s journey to the top of Canada’s Indie scene.
Posing beneath a dripping awning outside an Upper Lonsdale restaurant, Fowlie carries herself with the aplomb of a professional performer, but it wasn’t too long ago when the rising rock singer was more adept at filing papers and quoting insurance rates than jamming at coffee houses to pay her monthly bills.
“I’d be envious of people walking up and down the sidewalk,” she remembers. “I decided to quit my job and change my life to pursue things relative to music. That was my return to music.”
At age five the vocal ash-brunette made her debut on stage as a dove at a local Christmas play. One taste of centre stage was enough to convince the zealous entertainer to pursue her passion for the arts. In high school she continued entertaining, playing the French Horn with the school’s band, but sheet notes were packed away during university when Fowlie began absorbing thick texts on the science of psychology. Upon graduating she found herself with a lucrative 9-to-5 gig as a sales and marketing representative for an insurance firm. The commercial environment led her to take a small business course, where a confrere observed Fowlie was suppressing a profound part of her long-term plan.
“My classmate said, ‘What you really want to do is music,’” she recalls. “And she was right.”
So she gave up her day job and picked up her guitar.
In retrospect, Fowlie admits shunning her bi-monthly pay slips for sporadic stints at coffee houses and biker bars left her with an uneasy feeling.
“It felt really drastic because I was used to a certain comfort level,” she says. “But really my desire to go into music was so strong it overrode those things. It was tough for a little while.”
Her classical roots inspired her to audition for Calgary’s Philharmonic Chorus �” an internationally renowned 90-piece choir. She secured a spot in the choir’s soprano section and later performed to a packed Saddledome for an elite audience, which included none other than the Queen of England.
“That was a fantastic experience,” she reflects. “We stood there in an absolutely packed Saddledome. It was thrilling.”
Her melange of musical interests helped the smoky songstress break into Calgary’s Indie music scene.
Hooking up with other up-and-comers like French Kiss and the Fortune Tellers, Fowlie quickly became a fixture at Cowtown’s popular live music spots.
However, a trip to Deep Cove last spring provoked yet another significant change of direction for Fowlie.
Aside from the unparalleled beauty of the Cove, she fell for the local music scene.
“Calgary is focused on defining itself and its music in its Centennial year,” she explains of the Alberta city. “A lot of the music and funding is in bluegrass and roots. I didn’t fit in. Coming to Vancouver was like coming home.”
A “coming home” seems to be paying off.
Fowlie was recently granted funding to start recording her first original album, Pushing the Edge, a laconic description of how she returned to her first love.
She’s now in the process of putting together a team to produce the 12-song album, which she hopes to release before this summer. The album is a compilation of songs she’s performed over the years everywhere from coffee houses to biker bars.
Fortunate enough not to have witnessed a real rendition of a Hollywood “biker brawl,” the Calgary crowds have made for some memorable moments for the songwriter.
She recalls a tumultuous night after the Calgary Flames had won a play-off game. The intoxicated bikers weren’t particularly interested in classic rock that evening.
“They were looking for something a little more like heavy metal,” she recalls with a smile. “The drummer’s in the back trying to step it up. We had to change it up pretty quick.”
But change seems to be a life theme for Fowlie. Not only has she needed to adjust to a less predictable career, but the music industry is today not where it was 10 years ago.
“We’re on the crux of change and a lot of it is learning how to survive in it,” she says. “There’s less guidance from commercial corporations or people who’ve made it. It’s pretty much “do-it-yourself.’”
Regardless of the challenges the capricious industry presents, Fowlie is content to be a part of it.
“It’s probably been the richest experience I’ve had,” she avers. “[Pursuing music] is fulfilling in ways financial security wasn’t bringing.
“I’ve come to meet new people and I’ve come to places I never expected myself going to.”
(This New Year’s Eve, Fowlie makes her debut at Mulleys on Lonsdale. For tickets or information call 604-904-0166. )

Dec 29, 2005
- North Shore News

Dec 2, 2005 - North Shore Outlook Photo and Segment

“In the Limelight: Rising Star – North Van’s Karen Fowlie showcases her smoking voice and attitude at Munch Music in Delta this Sunday (1835 – 56 Street). Check out karenfowlie.com for info”
- North Shore Outlook

Tom Harrison - Vancouver Province Newspaper

Tom Harrison - Vancouver Province Newspaper