Kara Maguire

Kara Maguire sings blues with deep feeling. Her far reaching stories tell it like it is as she interprets this program of original songs convincingly. Clear and articulate, her voice is one that we're able to connect with from the start. She's accompanied on this session by a band of local all-stars that includes Jerry Rosen on guitars, J.T. Ross on harp, Tommy Harkenrider on guitar, Tyler Pederson on bass and Paul Fasulo on drums. It's a winning formula that results in a fine, cohesive musical partnership and a memorable blues outing.

Nobdoy's Girl lets Maguire maintain a laid-back, low key attitude as she reminds us that her blues presence is unique. Her hollers say more in four bars than some songs do in seventy-two. Rosen's "The Blues Ain't Dead" puts everyone in the band to work in support of Maguire's argument. There's no contest as she wins this debate hands down. Two other Rosen soings, "Let it Ride" and "Nobody's Clown," stand out for his superior wah-wah guitar work and for the band's powerful rhythmic stride. Maguire wraps her arms around a melody and delivers. She's got what it takes to become everybody's blues singer. - Southland Blues - April 2007

The Southern California blues scene features a plethora of impressive bands, many of whom have been performing for a long time. It is a rare occasion when a new singer and band emerges onto the scene. Kara Maguire is a blues newbie trying to get establish in this competitive field. She has hedged her bets by joining forces with Jerry Rosen who has been active in the LA blues world since the mid90’s. Rosen, the former owner of Southside Records and guitarist in the Mary Dukes band, gathered up some blues veterans and recorded a CD with Kara. According to Rosen, “After Mary Dukes became too ill to perform, I took a two year break from playing. Last April I got the urge to start another band and conducted a search for a female blues singer. About two dozen singers answered my Craig’s List ad, but Kara really stood out from the rest. Even though she had never sung in a blues band, I was amazed at how easily she fell into the proper timing and the heartfelt way she delivered the lyrics.”

Kara had always enjoyed listening to blues singers such as Koko Taylor, Etta James and Bonnie Raitt, but never guessed she would get the chance to sing the blues. “For my audition with Jerry and his band, I sang a few songs off the Mary Dukes CD. I liked that CD and felt a bit apprehensive about singing those tunes. But, I had a great time at the audition and felt that it would be fun to play this music live.” After playing at local clubs for a few months, Jerry and Kara decided to record a CD. They covered two of Jerry’s songs on the Mary Dukes CD as well as some tunes Jerry had previously written, but never recorded. They also wrote some songs together and Kara contributed her own lyrics to the song, “Nobody’s Girl,” which is the name of the CD. The CD has a mix of Chicago blues, rock blues and even one swing number.

Kara has been singing and acting most of her life. After graduating from college back east, she went to New York City and worked in some Off Broadway productions. Eventually she moved to LA and started performing her own material in various Hollywood clubs. “After showcasing my songs for awhile, I started looking for some other things to try. I acted and sang in several productions and even had one of my songs picked up for TV. But I was restless and wanted to try something different. In the rock world a woman is considered old at thirty, I was happy to learn that this is young in blues.”

The CD has done fairly well for Kara and band. They got a national booking agency which immediately got them booked into the Kalamazoo Blues Festival for July 14th and they will book a July tour around this anchor date. A few more local gigs are emerging for Kara and she is now playing at Harvelle’s and is booked into the Blue Café for April113th. The band will be at Biscuit and Blues in San Francisco on May 10th.

Kara gives a lot of the credit to her band on the CD. Besides Rosen, she had Tommy Harkenrider on Guitar. Tommy also produced the disc and wrote the music for the song “Nobody’s Girl.” Tommy has previously toured with James Harmon and Candye Kane. Holding down bass duties is Tyler Pederson, who was with the legendary William Clarke for a number of years. Drumming is courtesy of Paul Fasulo, whose last gig was on the road with Rod Piazza. The Chicago influenced harp, on three tunes, is due to JT Ross. Ross is a regular performer in and around LA and he helped Rosen find Kara and put the band together. The CD is on Rosen’s new imprint Albatross Recordings. Kara is looking forward to some good things happening in the upcoming year, but feels a bit humble. “There are so many talented people in blues and sometime I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I am having a ball and I am looking forward to playing in new venues over the summer.”


- Southland Blues - April 2007

"Sometimes you take a chance on a CD by a new artist and are completely taken by it. I am happy to report that this is such a CD. The material is at once original, yet entirely accessible and somehow oddly familiar, like seeing a smiling face on the street that looks like a long lost friend, only to find they are your best NEW friend. The musicianship is top-notch and the production is appropriate. There are no turkey songs or throw-aways, each one is strong and sticks with you. In what may be my favorite CD this year, Kara Maguire presents them with passion and style. Oftentimes when listening to a new CD (and perhaps this is even more true of contemporary blues artists), you wish the performances were a little different...a note held here, an adjusted phrase there, but not so with Kara. She has it down and I wouldn't change a thing. If you have any doubts about buying it, doubt no more. Just buy it! This is one "Nobody's Girl" that should be everybody's girl. "

John Wajgel - amazon.com - amazon.com

Kara Maguire sings convincingly with a natural embrace, as she works with deep down tradition on this program of contemporary blues songs that come enhanced by the energy of a smokin’ blues/rock band of L.A. veterans. She creates a comfortable atmosphere in which we just want to sit back and enjoy the stories that she has to tell.

Kara came to Los Angeles after years of experience on the East Coast, singing and acting in musical theater, able to convince any audience through her heartfelt delivery. Like most of us, she found that the recording artists who inspired her early on continued to foster in her a deep appreciation for the blues and all its down-home comfort. Citing a list of early musical influences, such as Carole King, Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt and Etta James, she explains, “I got hooked on performing my own songs live and have been pursuing that ever since coming to L.A.”

Helping Kara interpret this program of original blues music is a band of hot L.A. all-stars. Producer Tom Harkenrider lends his guitar magic to the fire as well as contributing “Nobody’s Girl” with its meandering country feel and its deep Delta echoes. Guitarist Jerry Rosen, who wrote most of these new songs, supports Kara with comfortable instrumental fills, exciting lead guitar power, and several wah wah adventures. Bassist Tyler Pederson and drummer Paul Fasulo, both familiar faces all over the Southland blues scene, hold down the band’s rhythmic foundation, while harp master J.T. Ross colors several tracks with his own brand of contemporary blues.

You’ll find that every track’s a winner, as Kara sings about faded love affairs, getting fed up with the way things are going, trying to make things work out right, and making damn sure that we all agree with what she tells us on “The Blues Ain’t Dead.”
Jim Santella, Blues Journalist

Note: Jim Santella writes about live blues and new recordings for Southland Blues as well as several national magazines.





- Jim Santella

"The Southern Californian - based vocalist applies her big, brassy alto tones to 11 blues-oriented songs."

"He Knows How To Do IT Right, an outstanding Rosen composition (a 12 bar blues with an 8 bar bridge) on which his propulsive guitar solo betrays the influence of Jimmy Rogers."

"Maguire belts the blues with considerable assertiveness, but she achieves stronger results when the tempos are slowed and she takes her time. The title track, a 12 bar blues ballad written by Maguire and Harkenrider, is the best of the bunch.... Maguire sings soulfully. The tune's lonely mood is heightened by the barebones support of Harkenrider, Pederson and Fasulo."

"Harkenrider, a onetime James Harmon and Candye Kane sideman who produced the CD, gets even jazzier on Rosen's I Tried (a minor Latin-tinged blues reminiscent of the Herbie Mann/Mel Torme hit Comin' Home Baby). - Living Blues

News Flash: Full-throated, wide-ranging vocalist Kara Maguire has recently relocated to Los Angeles after an acclaimed East Coast musical theater career and certainly didn’t waste any time before linking up with some of the Southland’s most smoking blues-rock veterans. Accompanied by guitarists Tommy Harkenrider and Jerry Rosen (who also had a hand in all the songs here save the powerful, reflective title tune), bassist Tyler Pederson, drummer Paul Fasulo and dynamite harp player JT Ross, Maguire wails with a “The Blues Ain’t Dead” passion and non-stop verve that recalls greats like Bonnie Raitt and Etta James at times. Tyler also plays a great boogie piano on the rockabilly-styled “Drive Me Crazy” that closes the eleven song set.
Guitarist Rosen writes some great songs as well—whether soulful ballads on the order of the rainy day painful “I Tried” or the wah-wah guitar framed “Let It Ride” soliloquy, up-tempo drum pounders like the insinuating “He Knows How To Do It Right” and the tension-packed opener “I Got It Bad” or declarative, experiential statements such as “DNR” (do not resuscitate!) and the moody “Nobody’s Clown.” Maguire compositions like the fore-mentioned title cut, a tough, Koko Taylor-like “This Woman’s Liberation” (vivied harmonica by JT) likewise impress.
News flash: One of the most impressive and convincing programs of original blues music that I’ve heard so far this year--this gal sings her ass off.

--Gary von Tersch - Big City Blues

“From the snaky rhythm of the opening track “I Got It Bad For You,” to the jumping closer, “Drive Me Crazy,” Kara Maguire proves a promising new singer on Nobody’s Girl (Albatross 001). Her Los Angeles band trades lead lines between harp player J.T. Ross and guitarists Jerry Rosen and Tommy Harkenrider, who employ a variety of timbres, from wah-wah on rockers “Let It Ride” and “Nobody’s Clown” ( with it’s “Messin’ With the Kid” bassline) to moody, muted tones on the cocktail lounge jazz of “I Tried” and the tweedy Pat Hare breakup on the desolate title track. That cut, which features a martial rhythm courtesy of veterans Tyler Pederson and Paul Fasulo, gives Maguire a chance to dig deep and emote. Navigating shuffles (“He Knows How To Do It Right”) and funk (“DNR”), Maguire demonstrates a sultry, sassy sensibility on this exciting debut.”
Blues Revue - Tom Hyslop

- Blues Revue

Originally from the East Coast and now working out of Los Angeles, Kara is an excellent, expressive young vocalist fronting a smoking band of the city’s veteran musicians in an original programme of mainly Chicago styled blues and gutsy rhythm & blues – nice to note this is fairly straight, with little modern rock influence.
Kara is extremely talented but I have to admit that it would be difficult not to sound good with the backing of guitarists Tom Harkenrider (who also produces) and Jerry Rosen (who wrote much of this fine material), bassist Tyler Pederson and drummer Paul Fasulo, whilst harp maestro J.T. Ross adds some extremely fine playing to several tracks.
And just to show that she knows just what that California swing-blues is all about, she throws in ‘Drive Me Crazy’, a wonderful example, to finish off a memorable CD. Remember Kara Maguire’s name – we will be hearing a lot more of it.

----- Norman Darwen
- Blues Art Journal