We’re playing next Monday, on April 15th, at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg. It’s a school night, I know, but it’s also tax day, and that seemed like the kind of day some folks might need to hear a sad country song. Not to mention the inventive sounds of An Historic, the lovely harmonies of Kings, and, to top it all off, a hootenanny singalong of all your country favorites. Plus we have a brand new song we can’t wait to play for you. It’s gonna be a great night, and we promise to start right on time so you won’t get home too late. Here are the details:

WHEN: Monday April 15th, 8:00pm

WHERE: Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer St bet. Richardson St & Frost St, Williamsburg
L to Lorimer or G to Metropolitan

LINE-UP:
8:00-8:40 An Historic
8:50-9:30 Karen and The Sorrows
9:40-10:20 Kings
10:20-11:00 Country Music Hootenanny Singalong

RSVP here.

And save the date for our next show: May 18th at Jalopy!

xoxo,
karen

p.s. If you like to listen to the lyrics, then maybe you should also come to the Sunday Salon Reading Series on April 21st. I’ll be reading with a bunch of other amazing poets at Jimmy’s No. 43, 43 E. 7th St in Manhattan, at 7:00 pm. Don’t worry, they have a bar there too—just because it’s a poetry reading, doesn’t mean you can’t have a whiskey. More details here.

Our next show on February 16th is gonna be pretty damn awesome. We are opening at Union Hall for Tatters & Rags and Alex Battles and the Whisky Rebellion. It’s a honky-tonk showdown! Is this the most butch thing we have ever done? It just may well be.

Here’s the facebook invite for more details.

Doors are at 8pm and we’re on first…

Hey there, kittens. We are so excited to be a part of a great show this Friday! It’s Unhinged: A Night of Queer Singer/Songwriters at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village.

Here’s the scoop: “Unhinged is a periodic music showcase that features a rotating lineup of NYC’s hottest, underground queer songwriters. The series allows the queer artists to showcase their unique voices and sounds in an intimate, acoustic setting.”

Look at us! We are hot! Or if not hot, then certainly at least underground. We’ll be playing with three other amazing acts: The Paisley Fields, Garek, and Jeremy Wilson. And you can read more about it all here on the facebook invite.

All the details:
When: This Friday, January 18th, 7:00 pm (for reals, this is an early one and over by 9:00)
Where: 94 Avenue A between 6th & 7th St, East Village
Directions: Closest subways are the F to 2nd Ave or the L to 1st Ave
Door: $5 suggested donation

Hope to see you soon!

xoxo,
karen

p.s. Save the date for our next show: Saturday February 16th at Union Hall with Tatters and Rags and Alex Battles and the Whisky Rebellion!

We are super-excited to head over to Dumbo on Saturday night and play at 68 Jay St Bar. We start at 8:00 and play two sets, plus it’s free, so you get the maximum bang for your musical buck!

All the details:
When: This Saturday, December 1st, 8:00 pm
Where: 68 Jay St Bar
68 Jay St between Water St and Front St, Dumbo, Brooklyn
Directions: Closest subway is the F to York St
Door: Free!
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/386301591452912/

And not to be a broken record, but don’t forget that our debut EP Ocean Born Mary is now available from pretty much anywhere online you’d like to buy it, including iTunes and right her on our website. Help us get the word out and we will love you forever! Ok, fine, we already love you. But we will love you extra.

This is our last show until 2013, so hope you can make it!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, Tami Johnson explains how to dykegyver a clutch:

httpv://youtu.be/jHhtoll0DZA

As usual, I’m running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything ready for tomorrow’s Gay Ole Opry. But it will be worth it! There’s nothing better than seeing everyone dressed up and festive and out to celebrate queer country music, community and two-stepping!

We’re gonna play an extra-dancey set, too, so I’m hoping people will start two-stepping early. And we’ve got a brand new song to debut! Plus a Chris Isaak cover! Back in the day when I was lonely, dreamy teenager, I remember coming home from a terrible party and listening to this song all night until I finally fell asleep. And in those days, listening to a song on repeat took some actual manual labor. You had to rewind! And know which spot to rewind to! Ok, fine, now everyone knows I’m old.

So dear friends, I hope you’ll be able to come out to Littlefield in Brooklyn tomorrow night! It’s going to be an amazing show with five bands, a two-stepping lesson and dancing with DJ Andrew from Big Apple Ranch, an all Dolly Parton raffle, a bake sale to benefit the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and a community storytelling project. All the details are here on the facebook. See you soon!

xoxo,
karen

 

 

It’s been such a busy summer for the Sorrows! Sorry I haven’t written for a while—there’s lots to catch up on. The big news is that we released our debut EP, Ocean-Born Mary. And we had a great time playing our EP release party at Rock Shop together with our friends The Library and Clare Burson. This song from Clare’s album Silver and Ash has been in my head all summer.

We also made our first t-shirts (which should be up for sale online soon, I promise) with an amazing design from R-rated version too. And I visited Etsy headquarters (the most amazing office in the whole world!) to meet the lovely Kim Kellen who hand-embroidered a series of black handkerchiefs for us. Will have these online to sell soon too!

We put on a Gay Ole Opry in Philly (here we are doing Asleep at the Wheel, our ode to sleeping with your ex) and took our Brooklyn queer country team of Bryn Kelly, Wiley Gaby and Viva on the road together for the first time…and started scheming up future road trip plans. And we celebrated the first birthday of the Queer Country Monthly at Branded Saloon!

We also have a lot to celebrate besides just our new EP. For starters, our bassist AJ blew off band practice a few weeks ago to get married! I thought you might also want to see our drummer and recent birthday girl Tami creating the latest installment in her on-going series Tami Wears Traffic Cones as Hats.

What else did we do this summer? Elana took everyone surfing except for me because I’m too scared, we went on a Staten Island road trip to Mandolin Brothers where AJ looked at banjos and I bought a new guitar (finally!), and we ate a lot of tacos.

I’m a little sad to see the summer go, but we’ve got a busy fall ahead of us too, working on getting our new baby, Ocean-Born Mary, out into the world and planning the Brooklyn Gay Ole Opry on October 5th!

Well, at least she is here online. Somewhere in the wilds of New Jersey, our cds are being pressed as we speak. But in the meantime, you can listen right here to the entire four-part song cycle/ghost song streaming on soundcloud—and share the link! It’s also for sale on our bandcamp site where you can pay whatever you want for it.

By the way, designer Jay Harlow made this amazing cover art. Counting my lucky stars to have such incredibly talented friends helping me.

Don’t forget, our EP release party is coming up on June 28th at Rock Shop in Brooklyn. Head over to the facebook invite to rsvp so we know that you’re coming!

And I’ve finally decided on the which baked goods to make for the party question: it’s gonna be cookies.

 

Paul at Salt Studios is my new favorite person in the world. Elana and I went there to get the EP mastered last Wednesday, and it was kind of like going to Disneyland. Except for people who love records. Yes, I made Elana take a picture of me posing with the lathe.

I also got a little obsessed with the oscilloscope, as you can see in the video below of Elana’s guitar solo. We were only mastering a CD, but hopefully one day in the not-too-distant future we will be able to do some vinyl. I can’t wait…

A sample of some of the very important work we do at the Flood Studios practice space: