B i o g r a p h y
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Karen Shane comes from a very musical family. Her father was a performer in musical theater and sang in barbershop quartets. It was through his love of harmony singing that Karen developed her keen sense of music. Her Aunt was an classical singer who toured with the Robert Shaw Chorale and the Cleveland Orchestra, while her grandmother played the mandolin and concertina for 40 years. She grew up surrounded by classical music, the standards of the 30's, 40's and 50's, as well as Broadway tunes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, et al. No wonder she had a draw to musical theater and jazz.
Ms. Shane's professional musical background began in high school when she sang in a rock 'n roll band alongside singer/songwriter Eric Carmen (“All By Myself”/“Hungry Eyes”). This led her to Los Angeles and New York where she worked as a studio singer and also as a second engineer at A&M Studios. Her love for musical theater drew her in to perform featured roles in such shows as The Pirates of Penzance, CATS, Company, The Producers, Chicago, Forum, Man of La Mancha and Fiddler on the Roof with theater companies in Miami.
Her musical theater experience has been sandwiched in between her jazz singing, launching her first CD "It's Anybody's Spring" in 1998 and now "The Moon is Blue" in 2015.
Karen Shane is making her mark as one of the brightest voices in vocal jazz.