Karen Cleary

Karen Cleary was born into a family of very talented musicians. Her parents are veterans of the legendary ‘Cavern’ era of 1960s Liverpool (Birthplace of the Beatles) her mother a gifted bass guitar player and her father a very well respected guitarist and multi-musician (who went on to play for 28 successful years in the hit comedy/musical group: Candlewick Green).

While growing up in a bustling house full of musicians and musical instruments Karen started performance training from a very early age in road shows on the local club circuit, attended dance and drama schools until her early teens, and also appeared in a couple of theatrical plays on Merseyside.

Karen had already begun writing songs at the tender age of 4 years old and, following in her fathers’ footsteps, took up guitar at the age of 7. Always playing at putting together bands and musical projects as a child, Karen went on to become a founding member of Native Instinct (later The Natives) at the age of 16, when she was fortuitously thrown together with 3 other like-minded musicians/friends for a ‘one-off’ gig that was so successful they decided to keep going. Native Instinct quickly became a favourite on Liverpool’s original music scene, rocketing to finalist status in a Battle of the Bands after only a few months together and going on to play regularly at the famous Lomax Club, The Picket, The Cavern, and The 147 amongst others. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, just as the band began to attract some very positive record company interest the group disbanded and went their separate ways (a decision all band members would regret later on).

Karen - who had been the songwriter, front person and spokesperson for the group - was encouraged by fans and supporters to continue performing, and it was at this time that she became a regular at local acoustic evenings such as The Acoustic Engine, etc. making a name for herself - now as a solo musician - on Liverpool’s acoustic scene.

Now… to go forward we need to skip back a little bit…

Throughout her years with the band Karen’s daytime employment had been with Cavern City Tours (owners of the Cavern Club and organisers of Liverpool’s International Beatle Week) where she mingled daily with legendary musicians and locally historical figures, whilst being surrounded constantly by the influence of the most legendary band of all time - The Beatles.

After The Natives had disbanded Karen came into her own within the 'Cavern Quarter' also, jamming with local musicians and building up a reputation there as an esteemed vocalist, regularly belting out soul and classic rock numbers in packed bars alongside the best of them.

For the next 5 years Karen toured all over the UK and abroad in the UK’s most successful Corrs tribute band - originally playing the role of ‘Sharon Corr’ and then finding herself as a front person again in the last year when she took a side-step into the ‘Andrea Corr’ role. The band quickly became - and still remain - one of the most sought after tribute acts in the UK and were even honoured with the impressive title of ‘Best Corrs Tribute’ by none other than Andrea Corr herself.

Unfortunately, travelling far and wide and being so much in demand meant that the members of the band were left with very little free time to pursue other projects, and so - after 5 successful years at the top - they decided to ‘quit while they were ahead’ and ride off into their own respective sunsets (they still keep in touch).

Since then, finding herself with the free time she had so longed for, Karen has finally started getting around to promoting her original music. She has never yet sent out any demos as a solo singer/songwriter but is currently considering it for the near future, as - since creating a profile here on MySpace - the response to her music and voice has been nothing short of phenomenal and continues to be extremely encouraging.

These few tracks on this page are just a sample of the catalogue of songs written by Karen Cleary. If you like what you hear and would like to hear more then please feel free to visit Karen at her ‘extra page’ located at the top of her friends list here. If you would like to leave a comment please do - your support is more than welcome - and if you need to contact Karen Cleary directly please feel free to send an email via either the ‘extra page’ or this one.