Karl Werne

Karl Werne has been entertaining the Hampton Roads of Virginia area since he was 16 years old. Eight years with The Lewis McGehee Group and four years with his own Instant Karma have made him a local favorite. A highlight of that time was performing in the opening act for Bruce Hornsby’s grammy winning “The Way It Is” tour.

In 1995, Karl teamed up with saxophonist, Eddie Williams, a partnership that would prove to have a profound impact on his musical life.  Now playing acoustic guitar, this new exploration of improvisation and creativity would shape a unique sound later complimented by some of the area’s finest musicians, including electric guitarist Curtis Eley, TR3 drummer Dan Martier, jazz professor John Toomey on piano and Big Virginia Sky’s Scott Slay on mandolin.

Also during these years, a powerful three-part-harmony trio of singer/songwriters, armed with positive lyrics and diverse backgrounds came together as a traveling band known as Elaine, Lambert & Karl. After enjoying some immediate success with a debut CD and a tour with friend and mentor Keb' Mo', they settled on an official band name of "BiG WiDE GRiN”.  BWG is now working on their 4th CD and continues touring as a duo, occasionally teaming up with singer/songwriter/producer and friend Tom Prasada-Rao.

Karl's original songwriting won him first place for online voting (’Monkey Do’) and first place in the finals (‘Flow’) of the national Fishman National Songwriting Competition held in Atlanta, GA in 2011. He won VEER Magazine’s Award for Best Music Video in 2013 with a video of his song ‘Love & Fear’.  

Karl’s new all original CD, “This Little Notebook”, has been a long time in the making.  The project features performances by many of his friends and musical heroes, including Tim Reynolds from the Dave Matthews Band, and his own TR3, which is Tim Reynolds’ trio featuring Dan Martier & Mick Vaughn.