In her hometown of Mackay, a country town in the tropics near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, seven year old Karen Jacobsen dreamed of her songs being on the car radio, never imagining her voice would be coming out of the GPS in over 25 million cars around the world.
Now New York based, Karen has shared the stage with Norah Jones, Christopher Cross, Jars of Clay, Three Dog Night, Deborah Cox, Cyndi Lauper, Jennifer Marks, Spyro Gyra, and her songs have been heard on Dawson’s Creek and NBC.
Karen’s singing voice took her all around the globe before her speaking voice did, with performances across the U.S., Australia, Germany, England, Malaysia and Thailand solo at the grand piano, with a full band and a capella singing the anthem at major sporting events.
She has appeared on network television in the US and Australia, her speaking voice is used in voice systems worldwide, and she has released six albums on her own label Kurly Queen.
Australia…
Karen performed in her first concert at the age of five and has been on stage ever since. At seven, with a longing to have curly hair, she wrote the song “Kurly Queen”, now the name of her record label. Karen sang the entire soundtrack of Grease into her hairbrush in front of the mirror, learned classical piano and was drawn to musical theatre, the pure pop of Abba and her childhood idol Olivia Newton-John. Winning a local song contest at the age of thirteen, Karen’s dream of a career in music felt within reach.
Classically trained in piano and voice and flirting with jazz at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Karen was working as a jingle singer and live performer as often as she was in college classes.
Relocating to Australia’s largest city, Sydney, Karen landed a role in the Australian version of the Broadway show Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, singing the Star Spangled Banner 220 times in the six month run. Regular national television appearances followed, including Good Morning Australia, Midday and a twelve-part series of the game show “I Do I Do”. Karen’s days were busy as a jingle and voice-over artist, while she continued to write and play live music up to five nights a week.
Although her life was settled and successful, in 2000 Karen was ready to fulfill her long held dream to move to America. She recorded the intimate piano and vocal album “As I Am”, sold everything, and with a suitcase and a dream arrived in New York City on July 4th, 2000.
New York…
Karen immediately began performing at The Bitter End, and was soon touring clubs and colleges throughout the U.S.
Making her U.S. Network Television Debut, Karen performed at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the NBC-TV Special Dare to Dream 2002: A Concert for Hope, also featuring Uncle Kracker, Jars of Clay, Dave Mason and Spyro Gyra. Karen co-wrote the theme song, and NBC-TV aired the concert nationally, with Karen closing the star-studded extravaganza, and Access Hollywood describing the song as “Wonderful writing …simple and clear and from the heart.”
Karen’s song “Supposed To Say” was used for the worldwide DVD release of the hit-TV series Dawson’s Creek, and “Not Enough” featured in NBC’s Passions.
Her first performance of The Star Spangled Banner on American soil was to a sellout crowd at Fenway Park in Boston. Madison Square Garden, Dodger Stadium and many other major sporting events followed, with a performance for 80 000 people at a New York Jets game at Giants Stadium being a career highlight.
In 2003 Karen won the Abe Olman Scholarship for Excellence in Songwriting presented by the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, placed in dozens of song contests, and went on to appear on the main stage at LA, Jersey City, Delaware & Ottawa Pride Festivals.
Recording, Co-Producing and releasing her critically acclaimed album “Here In My Heart” in 2004, Karen worked with Producer Julian Harris and Grammy Award Winning Producer and Engineer Andy Zulla.
Karen performed with her band in New York clubs including The Cutting Room, Fez, Makor, Joe’s Pub and The Living Room . In the summer of 2004 she toured the country with Jennifer Marks opening for Cyndi Lauper, and has shared the stage with Norah Jones, Christopher Cross, Three Dog Night and Deborah Cox. Dance remixes of “Your Body Over Mine” were released in 2006 and her first record as Producer, “Kissing Someone Else” was released in 2007 in the U.S. and under the title “Melting Moments” in Australia in 2009.
In 2011, a record of high energy pop songs for kids, Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun with “Supa K” was released, Co-Written and Produced by Emmy-Award Winning Composer Michael Whalen.
