Big news! Music Nova Scotia announced the nominees for this year’s awards, and Karen's latest album, ‘The Flip Side: Well, what do we have here!’ is nominated for Pop Album of the Year. https://musicnovascotia.ca/
The album is a departure from her previous albums. It is a cornucopia of styles, from Blues to Dixieland to classic country. The songs are lighthearted, quirky.
Says Karen, "Given my amazing band - Larry Bjornson, Dave Staples, David Burton, Chris Mitchell, plus, and Scott Ferguson handling the technical artistry, how could this music not be of interest even if it is unusual! Maybe because it is unusual. I am pinching myself and sending thanks to my team. And hoping my colleagues in the music business see the merit and send votes!"
Karen's music videos and original songs are earning international interest
Music video ‘Ode to Gertie Ryan’ was selected for viewing in London, England’s 2023 Discover Film Awards. (This annual festival, a red-carpet event, is one of the biggest short film festivals in the world with over 3,000 annual submissions from 100+ countries). It also received First Prize in the Music Video category of the Women’s Freedom Song Contest 2023, was chosen Best Music Video in the Nashville Independent Filmmaker Festival (August 2023), and received the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival 2023 Exceptional Merit Award for Comedy. (Animator Ada Denil from the NS South Shore was Karen's artistic partner, and the song was arranged by her band, Bjornson, Staples, Burton and Karen. )
Music video ‘The Night the Lights Went Out’, a tale of how ill-prepared we are for change in our world, received the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival Winter 2023 Exceptional Merit Award.
‘My Phone’ was an award winner selected for festival screening in the Paris Shortfest Film Festival, spring 2023, and was selected for screening in the annual Parrsboro Film Festival, September 2023.
Videos ‘My Phone’ and ‘Ode to Gertie Ryan’ were both Finalists in the 2023 Paris International Short Festival, and Semi-Finalists in both the San Francisco Arthouse Festival, (April 2023) and the New York International Women Festival (June 2023).
‘Tadpole Blues’ is a Semi-Finalist in both the San Francisco Arthouse Short Fest, July 2023, and the Berlin Shorts Awards, August 2023.
Karen says, "Imagine… all this was not even remotely on my bucket list. Writing, making, singing, creating… ARE on my bucket list, ongoing. I hope you enjoy the videos and songs!"
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Click on the pictures below to enjoy the stand-alone music videos that are winning awards.
Go to Karen's music page to purchase her music albums. Your funds will go quickly and safely to Karen to help her continue to make these musical offerings. Physical CDs will be mailed within 3 days and downloads are available immediately.
You'll notice in 'Tadpole Blues' that Lily, of "Lily and the Pads" is a bit of a DIVA. She even elbows me out of the way! Musicians are Larry Bjornson, David Burton, Dave Staples, and Chris Mitchel, and playing for the "Pad's" guitarist is JP Cormier in hiding.
Thanks to Scott Ferguson's editing skills I got to play all the Pads' parts. Was that fun!!?
About the video, Ode to Gertie Ryan. "I wrote the song for a concert for a woman blacksmith’s convention on International Women’s Day a few years ago. I wanted a song that fit the occasion, but despite being raised in a rural farming area, I had never met female blacksmiths until that conference. Instead, I drew upon the complexities of annual agricultural exhibitions. I had a lot swirling around in my head, from playing off the name Gertrude Stein to things I knew about my female relatives’ and ancestors’ lives, and from having lived through the Women's Movement of the '70s. Throw in the challenge of making up rhymes that are silly!
Then, when the guys and I started arranging it, we couldn’t resist taking it over the top with sound effects. Listen for multiple musical references and sound effects, including Randy the Auctioneer (That is Larry, who joined me for the pig duet too). The farmhouse is modeled on my own family’s heritage farmhouse and the fairgrounds resemble the Hants County Exhibition Grounds (which is, by the way, where I used to teach motorcycle safety courses). The rooster and chicken chorus is from our neighbour Joe’s flock. I asked him what time of day to come over to record them, and he answered “Well, they’re early birds.” Hence their name. I loved working with animation artist, Ada Denil."
Songwriting awards:
'The End of Time' from Karen's recent album 'When We're Together' won Best Jazz Song in the World Songwriting Awards, in spring, 2022.
Three songs from Karen Robinson’s album ‘The Flip Side: Well, what do we have here!’ were semi-finalists in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC): ‘My Phone’, ‘Love’s A Moving Target’, and ‘Tadpole Blues’. The ISC received more than 15,000 entries. Her songs are listed alphabetically at: https://songwritingcompetition.com/winners
‘Cats and Crows’ was a Top-10 Finalist in the 27th USA Songwriting Competition Jazz category, 2022.
‘A Song for Mississippi John Hurt’ was a Top-ten Finalist in the WSA spring 2021 Blues category
‘Feather and Bone’ Top-ten Finalist for the WSA Summer 2021 Best Jazz Song
‘Gamecock and His Hen’ Top-ten Finalist for the WSA Fall 2021 Best Jazz Song
‘October 31st’ was a Semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) children’s music category, 2021
The online launch of Karen's album 'The Flip Side: Well, what do we have here!' was a roaring success! If you missed it, Eastlink TV is airing the show, as well as her previous album release, 'When We're Together', across Canada on Eastlink On Demand.
The albums are available for download, or a physical CD can be mailed to you, if you prefer, from this website's 'music' page. Download the albums text and cover art for free.
“When We’re Together” videos are all now available to you on Youtube: Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGW_SG_sc53DVTn3So6e4Zg
Some of the videos are posted on this website under the photos/videos tab above.
A note from Karen: "I think you can tell how much fun I have making music with Larry Bjornson, Dave Staples, David Burton and Chris Mitchell!
Scott Ferguson, Mark Sawatzki, and Everet Stone filmed the show videos. Scott made the "on-site" videos with me and Scott & I edited them.
To join my email list to find out about new music or the next concert, use the contact form below.
Go to the MUSIC page on this website to purchase a song, a CD, or a CD download.
Friend me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KarenRobinsonMusic
All the best to you," Karen
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Eastlink TV is broadcasting Karen’s online show "When We're Together", her previous album release show, on Eastlink On Demand across Canada. Here is Eastlink’s trailer for the show: https://youtu.be/zU6Ddr5xS10
Audience comments from the video release show in November 2021:
"WOW! YOU KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!" - SA
Atlantic Seabreeze "gives this album a full 5-star rating out of 5 stars."
Read the review at: http://www.atlanticseabreeze.com/ItemOne.asp?ID=8248
"The show was well-produced, Sound was well mixed and camera angles and fading were well done too. Accessing the show was easy and seamless." - MC
"Very, well done, the overall production was perfect. There was strong chemistry between Karen and the band and it was obvious they loved playing together. Karen’s intro to each song was one of my favourite parts. I really appreciated the insight Karen gave regarding her inspiration and the subtleties in the songs’ arrangements." - SW
"Karen and the band were amazing! What a great group of musicians. I loved the variety in the numbers. I think my favourite was "Breath", very touching." - ES
"Masterfully done. I was drawn in more than I expected for watching the show in a brightly-lit kitchen on an iPad." - AM