International award winning blues
$10 cover
Known for her passionate, driven performances, powerhouse vocalist Karen Lovely delivers a blistering mix of contemporary & old school blues. Her standout performances – both live and in the studio, consistently garner awards and critical acclaim throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and South America.
Lovely is an independent artist, whose self-released albums have topped both national and international blues and roots charts, consistently made the “Best of The Year” blues album lists for noted publications such as Downbeat Magazine, Roots Music Report, and Blues Blast.
She is a two time “#1 Pick to Click” artist on XM Radio Bluesville. Her studio albums have all made the “TOP 10” list for dozens of radio stations in the US, Canada, and Europe, and has been a Featured Blues Artist by KKJZ FM in Los Angeles, one of the largest metro markets in the US.
A Downbeat Editor’s Pick, her newest release, FISH OUTTA WATER debuted at #13 on the Billboard Top 100 Blues Album chart, reached #1 on the RMR Contemporary Blues singles chart, #4 on the RMR Top 50 Contemporary Blues Album chart, #4 on the RMR Top 50 Blues Album chart and #4 on the Living Blues Top 50 chart and has remained in the Top 50 Best Blues Albums RMR chart for 21 weeks.*
Lovely shot onto the blues scene out of the Pacific Northwest like Stack O’ Lee’s .44 placing 2nd at the 2010 International Blues Challenge followed by three 2011 Blues Music Award Nominations for BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES FEMALE ARTIST, BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM and BEST SONG for her sophomore release STILL THE RAIN.
Her third studio album, TEN MILES OF BAD ROAD, produced by Grammy winner Tony Braunagel, established Lovely as a singer/songwriter with a style uniquely her own, receiving nominations for the prestigious 2016 Blues Music Award for “Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist” and 2016 BluesBlast Award for “Best Female Artist”. The album also won a 2015 Blues411 “Jimi” Award for “Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist” and was selected by Downbeat as one of the “Best Albums of 2016″.
Lovely is a committed and vocal domestic violence advocate, whose songs address physical and sexual abuse, homelessness, mental health, addiction, and suicide. She donated proceeds from pre-sales of Fish Outta Water to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. She has included links to domestic violence hotlines in each of her studio album liner notes.
2018 Blues Music Award Nominee “Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist”
2017 Muddy Award Winner “Best National Recording – Fish Outta Water”
2016 Muddy Award Winner “Performance of the Year”
2016 BMA Nominee “Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist”
2016 Blues Blast Nominee “Best Female Vocalist”
2015 Blues411 Winner “Best Contemporary Female Artist”
2014 Muddy Award Winner “Best Female Vocalist”
2011 BMA Nominee “Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist”
2011 BMA Nominee “Best Contemporary Blues Album”
2011 Blues Blast Nominee “Best Female Artist”
2010 WINNER, 2nd Place Band, International Blues Challenge
Lisa Mann:
Lisa has been awarded the prestigious 2016 Blues Music Award for her mighty skills on the bass guitar, an award which she also took home in 2015. Her first award win fell hot on the heels of her win for Blues Blast’s Sean Costello Rising Star Award, as well as three Muddy Waters Awards from the Cascade Blues Association for Contemporary Blues Act of the Year, Bass Player of the Year, and Northwest Recording of the Year. Her latest release, Hard Times, Bad Decisions debuted on the Living Blues radio chart at #7, and on the International Blues Broadcasters Association chart at #10, and can be heard burning up the airwaves worldwide.
Originally from West Virginia, Mann’s vocals effortlessly straddle the line between the honey sweet warmth of the south, and the force-of-nature sound Mann has cultivated by mastering everything from hard rock to rhythm and blues. Her clever blues balladry is complimented by her considerable prowess on bass guitar. Her bass grooves touch on the hallowed soil of soul greats James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt.
Her influences run the gamut, from low down blues sisters Etta James and Koko Taylor, to singer-songwriters like Bonnie Raitt and R&B belters like Little Milton. She writes the majority of her recorded material, and her songs paint pictures of a gritty (and sometimes humorous) personal experience in life, love and the not-always-pretty music business.
Lisa has shared the stage with many Northwest greats, such as the late Paul Delay, Lloyd Jones, Kevin Selfe, Duffy Bishop, Karen Lovely, Ellen Whyte, the Insomniacs, and Sonny “Smokin’” Hess. She has often lent her bass grooves and musical direction to Sonny Hess’ NW Women’s Rhythm and Blues Revue, a very popular showcase at festivals such as the Waterfront Blues Fest, and at Musicians for the Cure’s annual cancer charity Christmas show.
Lisa’s vocals appear on Canadian blues master Bill Johnson’s Juno Award nominated CD, Still Blue. (www.billjohnsonblues.com). She is also the voice of internationally acclaimed symphonic rock project Cry for Eden. (www.cryforeden.com)
