Karen Emeny

Most twentysomethings have summer projects that involve touring Europe, playing beach volleyball and enjoying cottage weekends. Karen Emeny, however, dedicated her summer to creating Finding The Words, a four-song EP produced and engineered by Matt Magni. The small but sweet collection includes the tracks Ghosts, Gotta Live You Down, The Name In Your Book and You Asked Me If I Knew You. Each one shares another piece of Emeny's life experiences, and all four can be heard at myspace.com/karenemeny or at the London Music Club Thursday night. Karen Emeny, Shelley Adams, The Sweets and Cheyne McCormick perform in the LMC's Front Room. Cover is $5 and the show starts at 9 p.m. (May 6, 2010) - London Free Press

...She’ll be joined onstage by Karen Emeny, who sounds well-suited for a spot on the Lilith Fair lineup. With influences including Jewel and Taylor Swift, this songstress shares poetic, introspective lyrics that focus on love and relationships (that don’t always work out perfectly). Lundy and Emeny perform in the LMCs Front Room, Friday at 9 p.m. Terry Grolman will also take the stage. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Cover is $5. (July 15, 2010) - London Free Press

London singer-songwriter Karen Emeny's newest fans are likely her youngest ones, too.

Emeny has been taking her guitar and songs to the kindergarten classes in a northeast London school where she's assigned as an education student on placement.

"I like to bring music into the classroom when I can," Emeny said during Tuesday's Reaney's Pick video shoot.

With a 2009 EP Finding the Words and many gigs at the London Music Club and elsewhere behind her, Emeny hopes to record more after her teacher's college studies at North Bay's Nipissing University are completed in the spring.

"Hopefully, I'll be pushing a full-length," she said.

The Beal secondary school and King's grad performed a new song, One More Break, which receives its London debut in the video.

"It's brand new. We'll see how it flies," Emeny said.

One More Break has strong lyrics, vocals and guitar in the solo performance and would be a likely candidate for any new album. The song was inspired, in part, by emotions called up by the death of a friend from cancer.

She worked on the song with a London music pal, Jason Mercer of the band Metro4.

"He tweaked a couple of my chord progressions. I came up with some lyrics," she said. Mercer and Emeny met about five years ago. They reunited for a gig in North Bay when Mercer's touring and Emeny's schooling coincided. One More Break was among the songs on their list.

"He won't take any credit for it," she said of Mercer and the song after trying to convince him to share the credits.

Emeny, 23, grew up in Old South and went to Wortley Road public school. "I chose Beal for the guitar program. I really loved it," she said.

Beal music teacher Andrew Parr continues to encourage her.

(February 29, 2012) - London Free Press

Two Brand New Singles released for digital distribution on I Tunes,Google Play and many more . Maybe Tomorrow and You Left Me With A Kiss both extremely well written by Karen .


About Karen

Karen Emeny is a local singer/songwriter from London, ON. She has been playing guitar since the age of six, and writing original music since age twelve.

At 18, Karen began playing open mic nights, and was added to the London Music Club's compilation CD.

In 2009, Karen's EP "Finding The Words" was released. It is a 4-song EP (free download on sound cloud).

In 2010 and 2011, Karen was nominated for a London Music Award in the singer/songwriter category.

Since the release in 2009, Karen has had the opportunity to play various venues around London, ON, charity events, and weddings.

In 2016, Karen became a member of The Doll House, an all-female showcase. She is currently recording new music at Sonic Zen Studios with Michael Marucci.

(January 10, 2017) - Robert Moody (London Free Press)

Two Brand New Singles released for digital distribution on I Tunes,Google Play and many more . Maybe Tomorrow and You Left Me With A Kiss both extremely well written by Karen.

About Karen
Karen Emeny is a local singer/songwriter from London, ON. She has been playing guitar since the age of six, and writing original music since age twelve. At 18, Karen began playing open mic nights, and was added to the London Music Club's compilation CD. In 2009, Karen's EP "Finding The Words" was released. It is a 4-song EP (free download on sound cloud). In 2010 and 2011, Karen was nominated for a London Music Award in the singer/songwriter category. Since the release in 2009, Karen has had the opportunity to play various venues around London, ON, charity events, and weddings. In 2016, Karen became a member of The Doll House, an all-female showcase. She is currently recording new music at Sonic Zen Studios with Michael Marucci.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017 - London Free Press

Karen Emeny has been known to take her guitar into class to entertain her elementary students with a song or two.

Music and classrooms have played a key role in Emeny’s past, and now her future, as the part-time elementary school teacher looks to take her professional music career to the next level.

“I love working with kids, but if I had the opportunity to tour, to do something bigger with my music than what I’m doing right now, I think I would like to explore it,” the 28 year old said. “The teaching will always be there . . . but if I can take the time to explore music I would love to do that.”

Emeny, who was born and raised in Old South, has been passionate about music since she was six years old.

She started with classical guitar lessons, which she decided to embrace because the father of a boy in her class taught guitar and she thought it sounded cool. She stuck with that through elementary school before switching over to general acoustic lessons.

Besides her technical skills, Emeny also embraced her passion for songwriting at an early age. “When I started writing songs I think I knew about three chords, but three chords and the truth and you’ve got it going on.”

Her passion for music was sidelined for several years as she was busy trying to get her foot in the door with teaching. Last year, however, she decided she could have both.

“I just had to put the footwork into it. If you just sit around waiting the opportunities don’t come to you,” she said. “I feel I’ve made a lot of gains this past year since getting back my motivation. I’ve met a ton of wonderful people, some really great musical people in this community and that’s been awesome.”

On Jan. 7 Emeny released her first new songs in eight years — Maybe Tomorrow and You Left Me With A Kiss. She plans on recording another three, working with Mike Marucci at Sonic Zen Studios, and then wrapping them all up in a new EP for release by the end of 2017.
Emeny admits her musical style can be somewhat difficult to define.
Sometimes people hear “a bit of folk, a bit of country,” but she explains there’s “a pop mix, singer/songwriter thing” going on as well.
That might sound eclectic to some, but she thinks there is a contemporary example of someone who has crafted a successful career in the same way.

“Jewel would be a good comparison. She’s been a huge influence of mine. I loved her music so much, still do,” she said. “I will be playing or songwriting with someone and they’ll tell me they hear a bit of Jewel. I’m not saying that’s exactly me, but you can hear those roots in there.”
A successful music career is a dream for many people and Emeny is no different. She loves to perform and gets that classic entertainer adrenaline rush when she’s up on stage.

Whether performing at her own gigs or alongside the numerous talented female musicians involved with Laura Gagnon’s The Doll House, music gets Emeny excited — so much so she can overcome her inherent shyness.

“You get so excited for people to hear your music. It’s weird, though. I can be a fairly shy person so I’m still working on that music cape,” she said. “I have a teacher cape and I have no problem being ridiculous. Adults are a little more intimidating than kids. I’m still wrapping my head around that performance aspect. I think I’m on my way.”

February 23, 2017 - Our London

Indie Spoonful Reviews Karen Emeny

About Karen Emeny:

Karen Emeny is a pop-folk singer-songwriter hailing from London, Ontario. Karen offers music that is both uplifting and meaningful. When Karen started writing, she set out to create a "refreshingly lighthearted" vibe without sacrificing emotional depth and she accomplishes that goal like a pro. After the release of her first EP, ‘Finding the Words,’ Karen started a new album titled ‘The Right Mistakes.’ Off the new album is the chart ready single, “You Left Me with a Kiss” and it’s a great introduction to Karen’s artistic achievements.

Review of Karen Emeny's Single, "You Left Me with a Kiss"

“You Left Me with a Kiss” showcases Karen’s ability to write an infectious song with memorable melodies that are sure to stick in your head leaving a long-lasting positive impression. The song kicks off right into the first verse. Immediately you hear that Karen’s voice has a soft, pure tone that entrances you with its laid back style. The musical foundation of first verse is comprised of acoustic rhythm guitar and bass with touches of vocal harmonies. This minimal accompaniment shows off Karen’s vocal appeal before the arrangement continues to build throughout the song.

“You Left Me with a Kiss” is a classic tale of moving on from a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere. Karen begins to paint this story for us in the first verse singing, “You left me with a kiss. It was meaningless, a sad-sorted goodbye. Sinking like a stone, out of my control, it lingered in my mind.” She then reinforces this theme singing, “I don’t need someone who’s not ready to be someone. I don’t need someone like you.” As you find yourself singing, swaying and even dancing along with a smile, feeling good, you realize that the song isn’t necessarily about a happy subject yet at the same time it’s empowering and fun with a great beat.

Karen’s music uplifts you while the lyrics speak of the fragility of love and relationships. She employs poetic depictions like “The ice is nearly thawed, the beating starts again. The crack in my heart is now paper thin” making for a deeply reflective song. “Left Me with a Kiss” is a sophisticated song as it is no easy task to write music that can pull off the dichotomy of an upbeat, major key song with catchy melodies while delivering meaning and message with poetic depth and Karen does it like a master.

The structure of the song is verse-chorus, verse-chorus, bridge, chorus and an outro. In “You Left Me with a Kiss” the verses are just as catchy as the chorus and the transition from verse to chorus is very smooth. The bridge section is well–written leading to the last chorus which thins out a bit, with a gradual ritardando, and the exit of some instrumentation, to make way for a lovely violin solo before kicking back into full gear for the ending. The musicianship is tight; the production and mix are high quality. Everything in the song just seems to fit perfectly into place.

Karen’s music appeals to the masses with easy to relate to vocals, infectious tunes and reflective/poetic lyrics wrapped up in music and beats that lift you up. “You Left Me with a Kiss” is just one great example of Karen's ability to captivate listeners and deliver a fun and thoughtful music experience. Karen released another single from her upcoming album titled, “Maybe Tomorrow.” Her music is available on most major online music retailers.

March 13, 2017 - Indie Spoonful

Local singer-songwriter Karen Emeny is taking her folk-pop songs to the Rosewood Room Saturday night.

The part-time schoolteacher has been playing guitar for more than 20 years (she first picked one up when she was six years old), and has been penning plenty of songs along the way.

She recently shared two new singles: You Left Me With a Kiss and Maybe Tomorrow. Both songs are set to appear on her upcoming album The Right Mistakes, which will also feature a guest spot from Emm Gryner.

Emeny’s lyrics are refreshing and encouraging, so if you need a little push, listen up for songs like Out On Your Own, on which she sings: “You don’t have to have it all figured out just yet.”

Hear her perform at the Rosewood Room Saturday along with Justine Chantale and Ian Raeburn. Tickets are $10 and the show starts at 8 p.m.

Written By: Lori Mastronardi
May 10, 2017 - London Free Press

When Karen Emeny and Justine Chantale first met, collaboration was the last thing on their minds — they were thinking more about whether or not to carpool.

Both noted solo musicians in their own right, the women were each asked to perform at the Tillsonburg Fair. The idea to go together just made sense, as Emeny lives in London, and while Chantale hails from from Stratford, she works as a nurse at London Health Sciences Centre.

“We kind of hit it off, and we bonded right away,” said Chantale. “We got to talking about music, and we became friends right from the start.”

It wasn’t long before the pair decided to take a trip to Nashville — but what started off as a vacation soon developed into a lot more, after the pair connected with Eric Ethridge’s manager, Jordyn Elliott.


“It was kind of one of those funny things, because Justine and I are both solo musicians, but when we approached Jordyn about maybe doing some co-writing in Nashville she assumed we were a duo,” said Emeny. “She asked us whether we had ever thought about performing together, and basically felt we would work really well as a team.”

That was when the wheels really started turning. They had already been co-writing for about a year, and both thought the transition could work.

“There aren’t a lot of duos out there, and of those, there aren’t a lot of female duos,” said Emeny. “It’s kind of an interesting market, and it’s not over-saturated. We’re kind of hoping to maybe have something a little bit different to offer.”

Focusing on what the two call a pop-country vibe, the musicians got to work, spending most of their time in Nashville working some tracks they could use together in the future.

“Both Karen and I have made our names as solo artists and have done it individually,” Chantale explained. “It should be interesting to see what we can do when we come together to combine our musical styles and create something different, which I’m really having a good feeling about.”

Throughout the trip, which included visits to the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame, and the B.B. Kind Blues Club & Grill, both Emeny and Chantale couldn’t help but get inspired.

“Nashville is so important because when you walk down the street you hear different styles, and different voices. In a way, we got to kind of see each artist’s writing style, and how they approach it,” said Emeny.

“We really wanted to come down and have a trip just to sightsee . . . and we ended up being lucky enough to write with some amazing musicians and producers. I think that’s really going to give us something different when we come back to just writing with ourselves.”

Even with the possibility of a true collaboration on the horizon, both musicians continue to work on projects of their own.

While Emeny prepares to head back into the studio in September, with hopes of completing her latest EP, Chantale has been working with The Agenda, a CMAOntario-nominated production group from Toronto, and is hoping to release a new single soon, full of heavy hitters.

“It’s nice to be able to do that on an individual level, but then come together and create something different because our solo genres are different,” said Emeny.

“I think that’s kind of what we both go for in music, and something that we want to listen to and kind of be able to connect to. It’s never just going to be a ballad — it can also be upbeat and positive, but something you can go, ‘OK, I’ve been there.’”

Whitney South
August 22, 2017 - Our London