KAREN SAVŌCA

"If she were a Native American, her name would be Sings Like Two Birds."
                                                                            - Greg Brown

Karen Savōca's mom was the featured vocalist on a nightly TV show in Fresno, California. When her family moved east to northern New Jersey, she met a young builder, choosing marriage and motherhood over a singing career. It was no surprise that her little girl was always dancing and singing. At the age of ten, Karen bought her first album on a whim... it was Life, by Sly and The Family Stone.
 

For years Karen's folks drove every weekend from NJ to their camp in the mountains of upstate NY, toggling between country and city... early training for a life on the road. When Karen was thirteen they built a log home and settled there. Friends were astonished at her ability to learn the lyrics to any song in one listening. Although she wanted to play the drums, she got piano lessons instead. The piano was next to the TV, so she would jump up to play during commercials and half-times. She bought herself a guitar with the birthday money she'd saved, and when no one was around she started composing. Living on a mountain offered plenty of solitude for the little poet, and she wrote privately for many years, all the while performing at school, county fairs and coffeehouses.

Never doubting that she would live a life of music, she attended Crouse College at Syracuse University, but Karen had always sung in her own voice, and the curriculum was operatic and restrictive... she switched her major to Elementary Ed where she developed passionate views about teaching young children. During that time she honed her singing style with several groups on campus and around town. While he was visiting home from Atlanta, Karen met guitarist Pete Heitzman. The short story is that he'd gone to a club to catch an old friend's band, and Karen was their new singer. They jammed all night... powerful chemistry evident right from the start. Pete joined the band the next day, and the two have been together ever since.

Karen and Pete moved to New York City for four years... gigged, worked strange temp jobs, wrote songs, and saved enough to assemble a recording studio... and returned to the relative peace of Central New York.

By now the response to Karen's songs was so positive that they formed an all original, improvisation-laced band with the best jazz and funk players in the area. The Mind's Eye played every Monday for seven years at The Orange Grove, a bar just off the Syracuse University campus. With the band, Karen played a Hohner Clavinet, lots of hand percussion, and finally got herself a drum ( conga, not bongo). Their audience danced and improvised as well, call and response style, sometimes developing elaborate counterpuntal routines. Known as Grovers, Karen and Pete encounter these SU grads wherever they tour.

Walkin' The Bridge appeared in 1988, and charmed T-Bone Wolk into co-producing On The River Road in 1993. The song, "Language Of Love" was chosen out of 3,500 entries to win the Grand Prize in MUSICIAN Magazine's Best Unsigned Band Contest in 1995.

The duo split off and developed their unique spare approach, retaining the dynamic of the dance band. By now Karen's vision was in full bloom, and after many years of pleading, Pete finally convinced her that they should perform under her name. In 1997 they signed with a major talent agency agency and began their travels. 1998's Sunday In Nandua was another collaboration by Karen, Pete and T-Bone, and has been added to many radio playlists across the country and abroad.

Why Folk?
Karen's music confounds even the staunchest pigeonholers. It's bravely non-traditional, yet completely accessible. Her appearance on the contemporary folk scene says more about the broad-minded audience of folk than it does about her music.

The duo's live performances are uplifting and hypnotic, and they like to put some funk in the folk. At the Vancouver Folk Festival '99, as the Sunday sun was setting, for the first time in 22 years, 10 thousand people inexplicably removed their shoes and waved them over their heads.

Playing conga and hand percussion, Karen infuses the music with her love of Soul, R&B, and World rhythms. Together she and innovative guitarist Pete Heitzman have been described as a self-contained mini-band with "the fearlessness of a high-wire act working without a net." It's an elusive mix... melodic, funky and spontaneous.

The most recent CD is LIVE AT THE BLACK SHEEP (Alcove- 2003), is an unrehearsed and absolutely riveting collection of original and traditional songs by the triple-bill of Greg Brown, Garnet Rogers, and the duo of Karen Savōca and Pete Heitzman. Although these four are old friends, this is the first time they've performed together in an extended round-robin style song swap. This exciting and challenging format reveals not only the well-known strengths of the featured singer, but also the intuitive and supportive talents of these musicians as accompanists.

In 2002, in duo appeared on three new CDs...their own ALL MY EXCUSES (Alcove Records) is the duo's most adventurous release yet. Displaying their spare and distinctive vocal, percussion & guitar style, Excuses also features some backing vocals by Greg Brown and the phenomenal bass work of T-Bone Wolk.

Then there's MILK OF THE MOON ( Red House), by two-time Grammy nominee, Greg Brown. This critically acclaimed CD was co-produced by Greg, Karen & Pete during a nine day session at their 1896 renovated church and home studio in rural upstate New York. Twelve new songs, several of which were written out on the porch just moments before they were recorded.

The third Savōca recording in 2002 appeared on a Going Driftless, Women's Tribute to Greg Brown (Red House). The lineup includes Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Cheryl Wheeler, Joan Baez, Lucy Kaplansky, Stacey Earle, Victoria Williams, Eliza Gilkyson, Gillian Welch (and more) each singing one of their favorite GB tunes. Karen sang Two Little Feet. Proceeds are benefitting breast cancer research.

Brother James Savōca's beautiful first feature length film, SLEEPWALK, which is now airing on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). Karen & Pete did the instrumental film score.