Music
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Youth benefit show set at Sherman Theater
A Celebration of Youth Through Music, benefiting The Youth Advocate Programs Inc., will be held 6 p.m. Sunday at the Sherman Theater.
The benefit show features singer/songwriter Karen Meeks, whose album "7 Simple Songs (Part Three)" is on the 2009 Grammy Awards ballot for nominations. She will perform with musicians and singers from Pennsylvania and New York. Meeks mixes her melodic originals with classic songs by artists such as Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner.
For information, visit www.karenmeeksmusic.com.
Recording artist Jason O, an independent artist from this area, will perform songs from his latest CD, "Sink or Swim." Visit www.myspace.com/jasonomusic for information.
Also appearing will be the 2008 NEPA Idol finalist, Sharla Kornegay, and Mike Blackwell. Visit www.myspace.com/sharlafreshfaceofpop for information about Kornegay.
The Pocono Mountain School District Gospel Choir Urbane will also perform.
The Youth Advocacy Program is a private non-profit human service agency that provides community-based programming for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and associated differences in relating and communicating. Youth Advocate Programs Inc. also provides services for at-risk youth.
The lobby will open at 5 p.m. for exhibits by the Youth Advocacy Programs Inc. as well as merchandise for sale. For information on Youth Advocacy Programs Inc., visit www.yapinc.org. The program has an office in Kresgeville.
Tickets are $15 and are available online at www.shermantheater.com or at the Sherman Theater Box Office, open noon to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The theater is at 524 Main St., Stroudsburg.
For information, call (570) 420-2808.
- Pocono Record
The Pocono Record-
Karen Meeks by Keith R. Stevenson/Pocono Record
by PETE PAPPALARDO
For the Pocono Record
August 08, 2008
Music and performing have always been staples in Karen Meeks' life.
Her interest began in high school and continued in college, where she took part in musical theater productions at the University of South Carolina, Spartanburg. She was also a
member of the Inspirational Players and played a variety of roles in Community Theater in South Carolina.
After she moved to Stroudsburg, she became a member of VOICES II, where she wrote and directed a short community awareness play about homelessness, "Catch the Next Train."
Now Meeks has taken her love of music and performing to a local venue, Gypsies Lounge Nightclub at Mount Airy Casino Resort, where she will appear Thursday.
"I've been singing and writing songs pretty much all my life," she said, adding that her musical influences include Etta James, Aretha Franklin and other R&B, soul, rock and pop artists.
While not formally trained, Meeks is no stranger to the world of performing. She has done
lead vocal work for national commercials and has done a variety of "session work," industry
slang for musicians who are hired for CDs during recording sessions. Artists she has worked
with include Earth, Wind and Fire; Change; and the Marshall Tucker Band. She has opened for acts such as R. Kelly and the Bobby Blue Bland as well.
Most recently, she was involved with the "Crazy for Broadway" performance at the Sherman Theater to benefit an area youth program. One of her songs, "My Name Is Peter," was featured in that production. The song promotes autism awareness, one of the causes Meeks champions.
Meeks said that her performances include covers of a range of music intertwined with her own original songs, which she characterized as pop since it crosses the line between so many genres. She writes songs for keyboards; although she laughingly clarified that she is not a professional keyboard player herself.
Like many musicians, she points to dramatic events in her life as the motivation for writing her songs. In Meeks' case, this includes the death of her parents in a short span of time at a young age. Meeks said that was the beginning of her musical odyssey, and one of the first
songs she penned was "In This Sad Song," a ballad to commemorate her parents, which was recorded in her inaugural CD, "Seven Simple Songs."
Although she utilizes horn sections for larger venues, she will be joined at Mount Airy by a quartet consisting of keyboards, drums, bass and guitar. Meeks and her band will perform the original and cover tunes featured on her CD, which was recorded in Hackettstown, N.J., at Nikki Peenut Productions, and other songs from a CD she is working on at Phire Alley Studios, Easton.
Her appearance at Mount Airy came about as she searched for a way to promote her music. The director of entertainment gave her material a listen, liked what he heard and decided to bring her in for her debut.
"I like to say that I am providing positive music — melodic stuff that's suitable for a family," she said, adding that her formula for shows includes half covers of familiar songs the audience is sure to recognize and roughly half of her original tunes. Whether the songs are originals or covers, Meeks takes the same approach to singing them.
Meeks said, "Music is supposed to lift you, take you to a higher place. Any song I write, I try to have a message, and the overall message is always love."
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Karen Meeks in concert
WHEN: 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Gypsies Lounge Nightclub, Mount Airy Casino Resort, 44 Woodland Road, Mount Pocono
FEATURING: Thomasina Meeks Owens and Marina Gilbert, background singers; Keith Theall, bass; Joe Cirotti, guitar; Ben Kornegay, keyboards; and Zack Irby, drums. Special guest singer will be Sharla Kornegay, 2008 NEPA Idol finalist.
COST: Free admission until 8 p.m. (and if you get stamped and leave, patrons may come back in); $10 cover charge begins at 8 p.m. Tickets for all events are available at The Mount Airy Shoppe.
WEB SITE: www.mountairycasino.com
INFORMATION: 1-877-MT-AIRY1
- The Pocono Record
ASCAP-
Karen’s song, “Sand in my Shoes” from 7 simple songs (part one) was selected from hundreds of entries to be reviewed and critiqued by a panel of songwriters in the country music category at an ASCAP I Create Music Expo listening session in Spring 2008.
- Marina Gilbert
Radio-
Jeffrey Henderson from the Jeffrey Henderson Show played “Didn’t you Know”, “Sand in my Shoes” and “I go Deep”, songs from 7 Simple Songs (part one) on his radio show on WKLAS 89.7 fm in Los Angeles California. People called in with very positive feedback about her sound. They loved the songs! People called her music fresh and real. Jeffrey is very excited about her music and continues to play her songs.
- WKLAS 89.7
May 15, 2008 04:02 PM Filed in: Low Budget Love | Innovation Entertainment | Press Release
Innovation Entertainment announces the finalists for the April 2008 Low Budget Love International Music Competition.
The Low Budget Love Music Competition is a monthly contest founded on the belief that “you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make quality music that people will love.” This opportunity gives unsigned or independent artists, musicians and songwriters a chance to win cash prizes, have their music considered for future licensing opportunities and be heard by a pool of industry professionals, including Grammy award winners and chart-toppers.
Venice, California, PRWEB May 23, 2008-- At Innovation Entertainment, we believe in music. As a way to encourage songwriters to continuously develop their craft, we created the Low Budget Love Music Competition. Our contest was founded on the belief that “you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make quality music that people will love.”
The monthly subscription based music competition gives songwriters and artists the chance to win cash prizes, gain industry access, obtain potential licensing opportunities, and have their music heard by industry professionals, including Grammy award winners and chart-toppers.
Artists of all genres entered Innovation Entertainment’s April 2008 Low Budget Love Music Competition, each entry was judged based on lyrics, melody, originality and composition by a group of listening panels comprised of music industry insiders, music lovers, and concert-goers.
finalists are as follows:
Artist, Song, (State/ Country)
* Jenni Alpert, Damage Done ( California)
* Jenni Alpert, Tragedy ( California)
* Jenni Alpert, Untied ( California)
* Alexx Calise, Morning Pill ( California)
* Alexx Calise, Out of Sight ( California)
* Daphne Darling, Eight ( Ontario, Canada)
* Daphne Darling, Until Then ( Ontario, Canada)
* Deanna Dellacioppa, So Simple ( New Jersey)
* Nicholas Deonigi, Back to You (Washington)
* Derek Elton, Redneck’s Lament ( Todmorden, UK)
* Elana Harte, Heart Soul and Song ( Ontario, Canada)
* Elana Harte, My Poor Heart ( Ontario, Canada)
* Elana Harte, Only Lover ( Ontario, Canada)
* Sly Joe, Melody ( Wisconsin)
* Brian Mazzaferri, About a Girl ( Illinois)
* Brian Mazzaferri, Pass Through ( Illinois)
* Brian Mazzaferri, Snowfall ( Illinois)
* Karen Meeks, Didn’t You Know ( Pennsylvania)
* Karen Meeks, I Go Deep ( Pennsylvania)
* Karen Meeks, Sand in My Shoes ( Pennsylvania)
* Gaby Moreno, Bella ( California)
* Gaby Moreno, Escondidos ( California)
* Gaby Moreno, Ghosts ( California)
* Gaby Moreno, Little Sorrow ( California)
* Justin Sheehy, Call My Name ( California)
* Brooks Taylor, Things Ain’t Looking So Pretty ( California)
The second round of judging will be carried out by our esteemed industry panel, this month’s judges are:
Michael Sembello (Grammy Award Winner)
Tim Carmon (Producer & renowned musician for Eric Clapton, BB King)
Keith Rouster (Songwriter on Temptations Grammy Award winning album Ear - Resistable)
Ralph Hawkins (Music Director & Producer for Eddie Murphy, Rick James)
- Innovation Entertainment
Discography
7 simple songs (part one)
7 simple songs (part two)
7 simple songs (part three)
Photos
Bio
Karen is a singer/songwriter an actress and a writer.
Karen a member of NARAS and ASCAP has released three solo CDS called "7 Simple Songs (part one, two and three)", available on CDbaby.com. Several songs from these albums were entries on the Nomination Ballot for the 2008/2009 Grammy Awards. Karen's melodic voice sounds like a cross between Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman. Her style of music is considered pop. Within this genre, she creates a true mixture of rock, R&B, blues, country and neo-soul. Her albums are the reflection of this blend of styles. Her lyrics reveal her insight to life, and her melodies are beautiful and memorable. Karen's music has a sound that transcends trends and eras. The more you hear her music the more you want to hear her music.
Karen has a natural ability to sing. She developed this ability over the years by singing in choirs, choruses, festivals, nightclubs, studios and a host of other venues. She took voice lessons from Wanda Bates in Spartanburg, South Carolina to enhance her natural talent, before relocating to Staten Island, New York and eventually Cresco, Pennsylvania where she currently lives.
As a child she was influenced by all styles of music. She listened to artists like Billie Holiday, Chaka Khan, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Aerosmith and countless others. She sang along with record after record with an open heart and mind. She sat for hours absorbing every nuance of a melody to try to understand exactly what it was that made her extremely happy as she listened to it. Her eclectic songwriting style evolved from this practice.
Karen composes music in her head naturally and across genres with ease. When she is given a specific topic to write about within a selected genre she can compose a song, with lyrics or instrumental, that is appropriate and authentic for the project or event. (Examples; wedding songs written specific to personal love stories, title track and songs from first two albums placed in an independent film called Down on your Luck, currently writing music for an independent film in development, Karen writes a song from audience's suggested topics during her performances.)
Karen performed the lead role, Lutibelle, in Purlie. She was a member of the Inspirational Players and played a variety of roles in Community Theater in South Carolina. In New York she wrote and produced the song “My Name Is Peter” that promotes autism awareness. She sang the lead vocal in a nationally released commercial and completed session work with a variety of musicians from groups such as Earth Wind and Fire, Change and the Marshall Tucker Band.
Karen was the principle vocalist in the band FX, who opened for the R. Kelly and Bobby Blue Bland shows. She was also the principle vocalist in the blues band Cocktail Frank, who played in the South Carolina upstate region.
In Pennsylvania, she wrote and directed a community awareness play about homelessness entitled Catch the Next Train. Karen, is a member of the Broadway review singing group Crazy for Broadway. This talented ensemble performs in the Pocono Mountain region.
Karen performs as a solo artist with back ground singers and professional musicians at venues in the Tri-State area. She also performs with back ground musical tacks at certain venues.
Karen is currently recording her fourth album dedicated to the blues and old soul music.
This album, projected to be released in January 2011, will have both original and cover songs on it.
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