Karen Turley is a Singer/Songwriter from Northern Ireland. She mainly enjoys Folk, Country and Bluegrass music.

Karen draws inspiration and very much enjoys the music of Johnny Cash, Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, KT Tunstall, Brandi Carlile, The Dixie Chicks, Mumford and Sons, Paul Simon, Blondie and Dolly Parton, amongst others.

Karen has performed many times in her home town in Northern Ireland and also in Liverpool where she studied for 3 years. She is a member of the Folk and Bluegrass all female trio 'The Jesse Janes' and the band have enjoyed great success in Ireland and in Liverpool where they are based.

Karen continues to write and record her own material in Liverpool where she is based.

Karen Turley

Karen Turley is a Singer-Songwriter from Omagh in Northern Ireland, living in Liverpool.
She started playing the guitar at the age of 15 and has always had a passion for music, particularly American Folk and Country.

Karen began writing her own music in 2008 when she moved to Liverpool for university. She recorded her own songs and covers from her bedroom and was lucky enough to have Gerry Anderson from BBC Radio Ulster play her cover of Bob Dylan's 'Boots of Spanish Leather' in 2009.
Continuing to write and play in Omagh, she formed 'The Jesse Janes' in 2012 with two friends. An all female Bluegrass and Folk trio, Karen enjoyed success gigging with the girls in Liverpool and Omagh before forming a 7 piece Roots and Bluegrass band called 'When Johnny Met Jane' with mutual friends 'Johnny Walker Wisdom'. The band even recorded an EP in 2014. Karen parted ways in 2015 to focus on her own material.

In March 2015 Karen was chosen to travel to Nashville for a week of Songwriting workshops and activities with esteemed Songwriters. From an open call, Monkey Mind Productions, Bob Harris (BBC Radio 2), David Macias (Thirty Tigers), Erika Wollam (The Bluebird Cafe), Ralph Murphy (ASCAP) and Yaw Owusu (Liverpool International Music Festival) selected two songwriters to spend the week learning from professionals and to perform 'in the round' with Don Henry and Beth Nielsen Chapman in the world famous 'Bluebird Cafe'.

The competition was part of an exciting exchange between Liverpool and Nashville, with The 'Bluebird Cafe' being recreated in August 2015 in 'The Bluecoat' in Liverpool for an evening of live performances. Karen performed 'in the round' at the Early Show for this event with Kim Richey, Don Henry and Kirsty McGee. Afterwards the late show was hosted by 'Whispering Bob Harris' and included special guests from Nashville including Jim Lauderdale and Beth Nielsen Chapman.

Karen has a mixture of influences from the likes of KT Tunstall, Brandi Carlile, Dixie Chicks, Gregory Alan Isakov, Fleetwood Mac, a deep love of Bluegrass, particularly Alison Krauss and Union Station and a love of traditional country; Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton & Johnny Cash, to name a few.

"Karen is a developing talent with a natural flair for storytelling, harmony and angelic melodies"
Monkey Mind Productions.

2016 saw Karen support Xander and the Peace Pirates at The View Two Gallery with Liverpool Acoustic and in March she was thrilled to perform as part of the The Liverpool Acoustic Festival in The Unity Theatre.

She recently played at The Chorlton Arts Festival and regularly gigs in Liverpool. She played at the very first Folk Festival at The Docks at the end of August 2016 as well as supporting Singer-Songwriter 'Franc Cinelli' on the Liverpool stop of his UK tour.

Karen's new recording - 'Like We Used To EP' is available on Itunes and GooglePlay on 31st March.

With her EP launch on 24th March in The View Gallery In Liverpool, thanks to Liverpool Acoustic.

Karen also played at The Elderflower Fields Festival in Sussex recently after being chosen to be a part of stage curated by The Americana Association UK.