Karen Larson

With the exception of Liza Minnelli, Weird Al Yankovic and Norwegian death-metal bands, musicians hate being “pigeonholed” — that is to say, lumped into a category with acts that may or may not have the slightest thing in common, aside from falling prey to a pithy catchphrase that describes their music based on hairstyles, wardrobe and footwear.Vancouver singer/songwriter Karen Larson harbors no such concerns. She doesn’t mind being pigeonholed as a singer/songwriter, because that is exactly what she is.“When I was 5 years old, I was singing in a Christmas concert and the guy playing Santa Claus put the mic in front of me,” says Larson, whose debut album Fire and Ice showcases both her rich, soulful vocals and gift for moving seamlessly between rootsy country-tinged pop and smoldering jazzy blues. “The moment I heard my voice projected from that stage, I knew there and then that I wanted to be a singer. For me, the songwriting part was just a logical extension of the singing process.”As a songwriter, Larson turns the personal into the universal, using firsthand incidents as launch pads to an emotional realm familiar to all. “My tunes are born out of different experiences,” she says. “Intense moments I have in relationships with various people, family and friends. I dig deep for my lyrics to find the perfect words to describe what I am writing about — I don’t just rattle off anything because it happens to work or rhyme.”The result is thoughtful rather than contrived, spun from real events instead of whole cloth. “When I'm writing about something,” she says, “it is something I have lived through, something I have experienced with my own eyes. My songs are 100 percent honest.”Larson’s honesty translates well. Her performances, whether solo or with a band, attest to her ability to reach audiences. Not surprisingly, the release of Fire and Ice (the title track is the album’s first single) coincides with an ever-increasing number of club, concert and festival appearances.“I've been performing live around Vancouver for about 10 years,” she says. “In that time, I’ve been invited to play many songwriter’s shows — Grrrls with Guitars, Afternoon of Music Festivals, Songwriters in the Round — as well as events like the Vancouver Jazz Festival, the Manitoba Stampede, the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and organized, hosted and performed at the twenty week concert series 'Music4Food' for the Vancouver Food Bank. In addition, she has hosted an ongoing series of songwriter nights at assorted venues throughout Vancouver.“People have told me that they like my songs because they can empathize with them,” she says. “I don’t try and be preachy or tell people how to make things better. I just try to articulate the emotions that accompany the circumstances I’m describing.”Those circumstances have found their way into the 10 songs featured on Fire and Ice, its title referencing two very different elements. Either of which can burn you.
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