Music
Press
"It’s nothing if not ironic that it took a young lady of English descent to create one of the most authentic, American country albums of the year - HARP
“Here’s a surprising gem of an album of nostalgic sounding country tunes, only sung by a Silver Lake diva from the UK. Sounds odd, but it’s true, and this lass can sing her heart out.” - Music Connection
“...See that blur in the background? That’s all the fun people dancing!”
Editor’s Pick Of The Month - OXFORD AMERICAN
Voted
“Las Vegas Best New Artist Of The Year.”
- Las Vegas CITYLIFE
Karling Abbeygate’s “What Another Lovely Day” nominated for Best Song in the Americana/Roots category.
- Hollywood Music In Media Awards
“Musician Karling Abbeygate and her band are a mesmerizing talent whose stage presence wraps up the listener in a tightly woven tapestry of nostalgia and fun. This charming British songstress has captivated the imagination of many an audience."
- Statesman Journal
"Karling Abbeygate has created a sound of ethereal proportions. Ms.Abbeygate's voice evokes an incredible force. It is pure, crystal clear, and powerful. On stage her presence is amazing. The beauty of her voice leaks into bones and cracks and every known joint in the body."
- VANGUARD
The 18th Annual Best Live Bands of 2009
Karling Abbeygate - MUSIC CONNECTION
Press Quotes & Awards…
Honored at the 16th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards, winning: “Americana Vocalist Of The Year, Rockabilly Artist Of The Year, Rockabilly Album Of The Year.”
Karling Abbeygate original, “What Another Lovely Day” voted Americana Song Of The Year at the red-carpet Hollywood Music In Media Awards.
"...Without fail, on every track Abbeygate's sexy, unassuming charm rubs up against her dreamy voice to effortlessly transport the listener to days long gone. It’s nothing if not ironic that it took a young lady of English descent to create one of the most authentic, American country albums of the year."
HARP MAGAZINE
“...See that blur in the background? That’s all the fun people dancing!”
Editor’s Pick Of The Month
OXFORD AMERICAN
“...Here’s a surprising gem of an album of nostalgic sounding country tunes, only sung by a Silver Lake diva from the UK. Sounds odd, but it’s true, and this lass can sing her heart out.”
MUSIC CONNECTION
“...Not since Bjork dropped the Sugar cubes have I heard a record so sweetly strange.”
ALTERNATIVE PRESS
“...You better fall in love with sexy, Patsy Cline-sounding, old-school country sensation Karling Abbeygate right now!”
BIZARRE MAGAZINE
"...If you haven't seen Karling Abbeygate then you're missing out!"
MTV.COM
"Las Vegas Artist Of The Year."
LAS VEGAS CITY LIFE MAGAZINE (Front cover feature)
“Karling Abbeyate has taken the classic Country Western sound and blended it with today’s sensibilities, and in the process created something quite new and utterly stunning.”
The late FRANKIE LAINE (Rawhide, High Noon)
“...Musician Karling Abbeygate and her band are a mesmerizing talent whose stage presence wraps up the listener in a tightly woven tapestry of nostalgia and fun. This charming British songstress has captivated the imagination of many an audience."
STATESMAN JOURNAL
"...With a vocal style inspired by Cline, a timbre like a higher-voiced Wanda Jackson, and a persona (on record at least) 50% Loretta Lynn, 40% Betty Boop and 10% Emily the Strange, Abbeygate may have just enough sly punkitude to popularize this anachronistic sound, which extends to the clean but deliciously old-fashioned arrangements."
BLOGCRITICS.ORG
"...Equal parts Wanda Jackson, Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee, Karling Abbeygate's new solo album is so firmly steeped in the classic country sounds of the 1950s you'd almost rather listen to it on a big old floor-sized tube-powered radio than your CD player. And yet, it's not gimmicky – what we have here is simply a superb album by a talented singer with a penchant for the classic sounds of the golden age of the Grand Ole Opry and a willingness to bring her own touches to that music."
TURBULA MUSIC
"...Abbeygate is cleaning up on winning awards out west with very good reason this girl rocks, and we mean that in a country way. With a killer command of country and rockabilly at her fingertips, Abbeygate delivers a riveting performance that keeps you hanging on just to see what’s coming next. High octane, high energy and a winner throughout, this is a contemporary country date, with a subtle load of mixmastering thrown in, that you simply shouldn’t miss. Hot stuff."
MIDWEST RECORD MAGAZINE
"...Adorable gal who brings back the days of Patsy Cline and crackling AM radio with 12 songs in all. Half being obscure covers and the other are Karling originals. She IS an original."
DAGGER
"...Abbeygate’s originals--the best of which are “Tonight Is Gonna Last” and “Someone Else’s Man” are so solidly rooted in the grand old country tradition that it’s clear this won’t be a one-off album. Whatever you do, though, don’t let Abbeygate within a hundred miles of Nashville; her sound is nothing like the country music of today, and it’ll be nothing short of a sin if it gets tainted."
BULLZ-EYE
"...I ran into Karling Abbeygate’s voice by chance while browsing artists on MySpace a few months ago. Initially, before listening to the tunes themselves, I was just taken with her excellent cowgirl boots. Mighty fine shit-kickers, but as it turned out, even better music. A modern day hybrid of Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee, Abbeygate croons in the style of the best 1950'5 Country & Western. Press play and time travel back 50 years."
AN AQUARIUM DRUNKARD
- Various
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
MEET THE NEW FACE OF
CONTEMPORARY ROCKABILLY…
KARLING!
THE ENGAGING BRITISH BORN
SINGER-SONGWRITER RECEIVED A
HOLLYWOOD MUSIC IN MEDIA (HMMA)
NOD FOR “ANOTHER LOVELY DAY� FROM
HER NEW ALBUM ‘BOUND FOR NOWHERE’
Karling’s Eclectic Vibe, Which Has Been Described
As “Wanda Jackson Meets Gwen Stefani, Who Puts In A Conference
Call To David Bowie Who’s Lunching With The Stray Cats�
Has Delighted Audiences Everywhere From Europe
To San Francisco and New York City
Since the designation “First Lady of Rockabilly� has already been taken by 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wanda Jackson, we’ll have to come up with something unique to describe the hip, contemporary twist that singer/songwriter Karling brings to the genre.
While we’re figuring out a term for the multi-talented, British born, Los Angeles based performer that’s as witty, clever and buoyant as the songs on her new indie album, we also might wonder about its ironic title. Karling calls it Bound For Nowhere, but in truth, she’s been practically everywhere these past few years, winning accolades and delighting audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe with her enigmatic brand of Americana.
In 2009, she earned a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) nomination for “Another Lovely Day,� the charming, easy rolling lament that kicks off Bound For Nowhere which she also performed at the ceremony. Her 2006 self-titled debut, a critically acclaimed shout out to traditional honky tonk country that earned comparisons to Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette and June Carter, won three L.A. Music Awards: Rockabilly Album of the Year, Rockabilly Artist of the Year, and Female Americana Vocalist of the Year.
Over the past few years, Karling and her band have shared the stage with luminaries like Jackson, Wayne Hancock, Big Sandy, The Hacienda Brothers, Deke Dickerson and James Intveld and performed regularly throughout the West Coast and Europe—with dates everywhere from Portland, Oregon to Baltimore and New York.
While she performs throughout California—and recently played in Fresno, Sutter Creek and San Francisco--one of Karling’s most loyal fan bases is in Bakersfield. The band is scheduled to play the 2010 Buckfest in honor of country legend Buck Owens, who hailed from there.
Just as a revival of the Elvis Presley-Sun Session era rockabilly sound inspired the revival in her hometown of Norwich in the English countryside when she was growing up, she taps into the Euro passion for rockabilly regularly; in 2009, she performed in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, Holland and the UK.
“Because we don’t do straight traditional rockabilly,� Karling says, “we also appeal to those who enjoy old country, the Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Hank Williams, Sr. fans as well as the rockabilly crowd. The European crowds are always a little surprised because the songs have an original twist and they are not used to songs that cross traditional boundaries and aren’t duplicates of the old style. People tell me they like my singing voice because it sounds like a 50s crooner but then I can get into hard rocking, high energy stuff that inspires the audience to jump and dance around.�
One of the songs her fans are high steppin’ to lately is the infectious “Crazy Mable,� which draws on one of her favorite hobbies, writing horror stories, and the darker elements of her former musical life as the lead singer of the alt-rock band Karling Abbeygate and the Monks of Love. This is just one element of a background that makes her a fascinating musical enigma. New listeners might assume she hails from Texas or Memphis, since her twang is tweaked to perfection and her voice captures the authentic soul of American roots music.
Mystery solved: Karling’s father, a military man hailing from Coffeyville, Kansas, met her mother while based in Norfolk, England. Both avid old-style country fans, they fed their daughter a consistent diet of Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, practically from the day she was born. Her friends at school also exposed her to vinyl records their parents had of artists like Wanda Jackson, and Norwich had concerts hosting rockabilly bands where dressing up in circle skirts and petticoats was encouraged.
Those experiences help explain Karling’s evolution as a country/Americana artist. But somewhere along the way, to the delight of the indie rock community, Karling explored that other side of her musical artistry. Based alternately in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Karling Abbeygate and the Monks of Love did numerous tours of America. During these years, she also prepped for her later slew of awards as the band won honors as Las Vegas Artist of the Year by City Life Magazine.
Though she is now billed as a solo artist, Karling is very much a collaborator in both the studio and onstage with her band featuring guitarist Joel Morin, rhythm g
Links
