Carly Bak

"I have many passions but all stem from my childhood infatuation with nature, music, folklore and watching people. Songwriting is my therapy and a way of sorting out life!"

"She's Got Moxie!" Unearthing the Secret Society of Wild Women with true
"Grit, Gravel, and Grandeur" "Fasten your seat belts ...Its going to be
a bumpy night!)

Cowgirl Logic ~ Based on the song & stories of honky-tonk barroom culture…from a well-seasoned cowgirls perspective. A little naughty but not perverted. A bona fide honky-tonk barroom experience!

I got my first guitar at the age of ten. I remember it well. We lived in a little trailer park at the edge of a one horse town on the prairie, White River SD...population 500. A Lakota Sioux man by the name of Howard Sharp Butte, came by the house and hocked a guitar for a little cash from my mother. I taught myself a few chords and began writing poetry and putting words to music.

From a one-room country school on the prairie, with no running water, an outhouse and only six students, we moved to Kensington MD. Talk about culture shock! Needless to say I
did not fit in. This was around 1965 or so. There was a lot of rioting and demonstrating going on from the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam war protesters and much friction inside the school systems. I felt as though I had been thrown to the lions! This was not something familiar
to me. While everyone else was so involved in taking sides, I was lost and a backward country girl to most. But then, there was RoseWashington, my peer and mentor from 5th & 6th grade.

Rose and I could not have been more opposite! From the color of our skin, to our dialect and taste in music, we were opposites! She was an inner city girl familiar with Martin Luther King, street gangs, the Black Power movement and Motown. Iwas a country girl, familiar with horses and cattle, Loretta Lynn &Patsy Cline.  I guess Rose just felt sorry for me and she took me under her wing, although never openly. When we were alone, she taught me the
street lingo, all about Motown sound and how to dance like Soul Train!

My first public appearance was in the 5th grade. I hooked up with Debbie, a class mate from a little town in SouthCarolina. She was a southern country girl with a southern drawl to match and we shared the same distaste for city life and longing to go back home. Many times we would write notes back & forth in class, plotting our great escape. Together, we were a hot duo! With Rose Washington's backing, we decided to sign up for the school's talent show. We were so excited when it came time to do our songs on stage...we were ready!

Our first song went over well..."God didn't make little green apples, and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summer time"...

Then came our second song...Harper Valley PTA..."Well it happened that the PTA was gonna meet that very afternoon. And they were sure surprised when Mrs Johnson wore her miniskirt into the room. And as she walked up to the blackboard I can still recall the words she had to say. She said I'd like to address this meeting of the Harper Valley PTA."

We got a standing ovation from the kids and a brow beating from the principle and teachers and disqualified from the contest right then and there!

When I was about 14 or 15 yrs old, I began singing in the church and small coffee houses around the DC area. Listening to everything from Motown, (thanks to Rose) the blues, country, folk, jazz, rock & roll....I loved it all. But my own songs were much closer to my heart, cover's were just inspiration to me. I never really had much of a desire to sing them in public.

Then came high school, I learned a lot playing music in the girls bathroom,everything from my first kiss to smoking cigarettes and pot, strip poker to Janis Joplin tunes and Southern Comfort. At the age of 16, with an airplane ticket to Salem Oregon and a guitar in hand, I left that city behind, never looking back!

My curiosity and love of adventure has taken me down many a road, some smooth and easy going, some very rough and rugged...learning a lesson or two along the way! All have given me
different points of view and plenty of life experiences to write about!

Wherever I go, I love to play the small town local hangouts, because this is where colorful local, people socialize, where tall tales are told, sad songs are sung and life's drama unfold! This is the back bone of good original songs.