That’s me and my band playing at The Stanhope House in Stanhope, NJ, just one in a long list of totally unexpected, but wonderful experiences I've had in the last couple of years. Unexpected because I wrote my first song in 2009 when I was fifty-two years old.
That first song, Every Day Matters, was dedicated to the memory of my sister Christine who died in 1987 when she was twenty-six years old. After I wrote my sister's song, floodgates opened and I wrote dozens more.
I connected with Renee Paddock, one of Northwest New Jersey's premier violin players and her husband Clark, now my bass player, at an open mic night, and together with my friend Phil Landis, who plays a mean guitar, we began performing at local coffee houses as Karen Kamenetsky & Friends, and I kept writing songs.
I recorded my first album, Every Day Matters at Mountain Ledge Music in 2011. It is dedicated to my sister Christine. I am setting aside 10% of the proceeds from the sale of each CD in the hopes that I will one day be able to fund a project in memory of my sister that will directly benefit patients being treated for Hodkgin's Disease.
In what seems like the short time since that album was finished, I've played with the "Friends", by myself, with just Phil, and just Renee, and sometimes with other friends sitting in. I have played at open mics, at coffee houses, at music festivals, at Farm Markets, at several local eateries, and one "Great American Roadhouse". I've been on the radio, and I've taped a live cable television show. All totally unexpected, and wonderful experiences.
In 2012, I recorded my second album, Sing With Me, a collection of songs for children and families that includes some "green" themed songs, some sing-alongs, and even a lullabye. Check out the Just For Kids section of this website for more information.
I recently began recording a third album, as yet untitled. I'm not sure where that is going yet, but I know we're going to have a great time figuring it out.
Its been a wild ride, and a lot of fun, and at the center of it is the music. So far, my music has been very well received, from women "of a certain age" singing along to Older Than I Thought I Was, to a radio listener calling in to say that Grandpa's Tree was one of the best new songs he had heard in a long time. I hope you will listen to a song or two - and let me know what you think.
Click here to link to my Performance History
