Background …
Some of you will already know that I was nicknamed first “The Quirky One”, “The Queen of Quirk” and then “The Quirky and Rudey One”. For those of you who are unaware
of this, I will explain …
I first started this ‘performing in public’ lark around 2002 in a lovely low-key event that took place monthly in a delightful family restaurant in Mossman township (Far North Queensland, not the
trendy Sydney suburb of Mosman!) where my main aim was to make folks laugh with my songs and the introductions to those songs.
In July of 2003 I started to spread my wings a bit, by taking part in a local institution - an Open Mic night known as “Muso's Night”, held on Thursday nights in one of the local
hostelries. Muso's Night originated in June 1990 and appeared in different guises over the years; the most recent incarnation has been running since March 2003 (although with a personnel change
in half the team a few years ago) and is a major draw card for visitors to Port Douglas and residents of the area alike.
One day, having established myself as ‘a regular’ (nothing to do with prune juice, I assure you) I found myself being introduced by Craig (one of the house band who run the event) to an overseas
visitor musician as “This is Karen, she's our quirky one.” The label stuck and from then on I was generally welcomed to the stage for ‘my 3’ (3 songs or 15 minutes, whichever
comes first!) as “Here's Karen, the Quirky One” or “Now for the Queen of Quirk, Karen”. The nickname came about due to my choice of songs - rarely did I sing a
‘standard’ or even well-known song, and I would mix up comedic songs with genuinely sad songs … so long as the song told a story I could be interested in giving it a go. To the
increasing delight of the Port Douglas audience, as my confidence grew the range of songs I was interested in extended to more raunchy stories, interspersed with the ‘quirky’ mix … so
my nickname became “The Quirky and Rudey One” and the house band, when accompanying yours truly, entitled themselves “The Quirky Rudey Band”. I'm very proud of that range of
nicknames; what that says about me as a person is anyone's guess …
The show …
Given that long, involved introduction you should not be surprised to learn that I've put together a show specifically for adults only! Don't be deceived by this mild, English exterior,
inside lives someone who loves to put herself out there singing naughty (but nice!) songs. Not crude, I tend to avoid particularly crude songs, but I don't shy away from ‘adult themes’,
‘sexual references’ and occasional ‘coarse language’; I can't guarantee that all the songs are strictly ‘politically correct’ either! All of the songs are aimed at an adult
audience and the show is not recommended for those who are easily shocked, or are offended by any of the above! My main aim is always to entertain and for all of us to have a good laugh.
On stage for “Adults Only” there's just me, chatting and singing; mostly I'll accompany myself on guitar, one or two songs on keyboard, and a few songs will be karaoke style to my
own professionally produced backing tracks. My husband John is in charge of making sure the right backing track plays when needed, and of the sound overall - we're a good team.
Upcoming shows
