Karen Lee White
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Music
Press
Thats what I call a human voice. Simply incredible.. It thrilled me to hear this song. (Letters from Babylon)It left me breathless and speechless. I still feel it in my solar plexus, I feel my heart awakening.
Reminds me of that power you felt when you first heard Joan Baez, Odetta or Joan Armatrading or Tracy Chapman. She is a force of nature. . Thanks for such real music.
- Newfoundland Writer and Poet
'the voice of the Yukon held audiences throughout the festival' - Powell River News
'a voice that sends shivers down your spine...fine guitar work'. - Frostbite Music Festival
'A voice that will transport you, guitar playing that is out of this world' - Music in the Bay
'She walked into my studio and put down nine songs, live, in one take'! - Ambient Sound/Rainforest Records
'All we can say is 'MOMMY!' - Out of Bounds Magazine
Discography
'Dance Away' re-release February 2011
'There Yet Not There' - to be released fall 2011
'Dance Away' independant release 1998
'The White Sisters, According to Bert' 1997
Compilation 'Stop the Violence' 2003
Featured on 'Cat Among the Pigeons' Walter Bodega Trio, 2002
Featured on 'Gerry Kairigianis' CD, released 2002
Featured on 'Underbelly', Ronnie Boyd cd, released 2000
CBC North full length albumn 1980
CBC North full length albumn 1979
Photos
Bio
Karen Lee White
The intensity and passion of singer/songwriter Karen Lee White’s songs speak of a lifelong dedication to celebrating her roots and developing her art. Born in Grimsby, a small town near Lake Ontario, and now based in Victoria, British Columbia Karen is a proud descendant of the Tuscarora, Northern Salish and Celtic People and has been adopted by the Daklaweidi Wolf Clan of the Interior Tlingit /Tagish People. She has written and performed her own songs since the age of thirteen and played at many major Canadian music festivals and events, sharing stages with the likes of Pied Pumpkin’s Joe Mock and Rick Scott, African guitarist and singer Alpha Yaya Diallo, singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers and Dobro player Doug Cox.
Karen’s music is influenced stylistically by North American Roots Music: traditional country, blues, and folk in particular. She has also absorbed elements of musical styles encountered on her extensive world travels to countries such as Zimbabwe where she lived for three years among the Shona People.
On her CD, Dance Away, Karen gives luminous musical life to experiences from her journey through the world as a woman of Aboriginal/Celtic heritage. While her own personal circumstances and background inspire her songs, they deal with life themes significant to most of us. Delivered with a powerfully expressive voice and backed only by her intricate acoustic guitar work, Karen’s finely-wrought lyrics eloquently explore the pleasures and disappointments of loving relationships, the importance of roots and sense of place in our lives, and the possibility of finding spiritual meaning and joy in day to day existence. “I sing and write the songs from the very depths of myself, the way I would in a ceremony with a drum while singing a traditional song” says Karen, “But while there are definite Aboriginal and Celtic roots at the base of the tree of my songs, they can be and have been appreciated by people of all cultures.”
Performance Highlights
Invited to perform at UN Habitat Summit, Istanbul, Turkey
Commonwealth Games, Victoria BC
Banff School of the Arts, Alberta Festival Performance
Filberg Festival, Comox, BC
First People’s Festival, Victoria BC (four consecutive years)
Dawson City Music Festival, Dawson City, Yukon (four consecutive years)
Farrago Music Festival, Faro Yukon (six consecutive years)
Frostbite Music Festival, Whitehorse, YT (four consecutive years)
Sunshine Music Festival, Powell River, BC (three years)
William Head Penitentiary Music Festival, Metchosin, BC
Saltwater Maritime Festival, Sidney, BC televised (two consecutive Years)
Frostbite Coffeehouse, Whitehorse, Yukon (two consecutive years)
First Peoples Solstice Gathering, Victoria, BC
Canadian Forces National Aboriginal Day, Victoria, BC
National Aboriginal Day, Victoria, BC (three consecutive years)
Fluff Your Feathers First Nations Ed. Annual Fundraising Concert, Victoria BC (five consecutive years)
Represented Yukon in cultural contingent to Arctic Winter Games
Spirit Works Festival, Cowichan Valley, BC (live televised concert)
Commonwealth Legacy Heritage Park opening concert, North Saanich, BC
Victoria Folk Club Concert, Victoria, BC (two consecutive years)
Deep Cove Folk Club Concert, North Saanich BC (two consecutive years)
Brentwood Music Festival, Brentwood, BC
Brentwood Folk Club, Brentwood, BC (two consecutive years)
Patricia Bay Park Dedication Concert, Deep Cover, BC televised
Canada Day Civic Concert, Sidney, BC
Cowichan Folk Guild Concert, Cowichan Station, BC (two consecutive years)
Tours
Council for Yukon Indians (interactive instructional/performance tour of Yukon Territory)
Represented Yukon in cultural contingent to Canadian Heritage Festival tour of Saskatchewan
Represented Yukon in cultural contingent to Canadian Heritage Festival Thunder Bay
Theatre
Cast member of ‘Flight 23’ played 3 week run Whitehorse, Yukon, toured Ontario
Cast member Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, 4 week run in Whitehorse, YT
Other Television/Radio
Featured on Aboriginal People’s Television Network, broadcast Canada wide on ‘First Music and Arts’, broadcast three consecutive years
Village 900 Community radio, Victoria, BC interviewed and CD sampled on ‘Wolfbeat’
CKUV University of Victoria Radio, Victoria BC interviewed and CD sampled on ‘UnReserved’
The A Channel, live inaugural broadcast live performance
The A Channel, Victoria, BC Featured on ‘The New Canoe’ aired three consecutive years
CHEK 6 , Victoria, BC, Featured on CHEK Around, two consecutive years
CBC North, Whitehorse, ‘Yukon Magazine’, one hour interview/live performance (four consecutive years)
CKRW Radio, Whitehorse, Yukon interview and live performance, (two consecutive years)
Dawson City Community Radio, Dawson City Yukon interview and live performance
CKVU Radio, ‘Joes Garage’ interview and live performance
Links