Bay Area Rock Songstress KARNEY Reaches New Heights with Huge Sound and Powerful Lyrics on Her Fifth Full-Length Album NO MERCY. You can pick up a copy now!
Anna Karney has been making great music for many years, performing across the US and collaborating with many talented and notable artists. She has put out several singles and EPs as a solo artist and together with her band, and will release the fifth full-length KARNEY album of original songs titled NO MERCY in stores and online March 9, 2018. Keeping her mind on social justice and positive messages, Anna Karney’s lyrical content offers a sardonic and sometimes straightforward approach to many of the issues facing people today, with a message of hope resonating throughout every song she writes.
While in the process of writing songs for her new NO MERCY release, KARNEY began revisiting earlier material and started to hear some things differently. This was partly due to alterations that happened across years of live performances, but also times had changed, and KARNEY had changed with them. Her good friend and engineer/producer Michael Rosen was also remixing the material in a new and fresh way, and they decided to just go with it. Finished songs so often lie abandoned on vinyl or in digital bits, but KARNEY has found renewed excitement and inspiration with her older works, which has also had a tremendous creative effect on her new album. Anna Karney’s musical influences include Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Lennon, Sheryl Crow, Chrissie Hynde, Fela Kuti, and Joni Mitchell.
As an arranger, pianist, and guitarist, she has worked with artists such as George Clinton, Linda Perry, and Dennis Bovell. The KARNEY live band includes many great Bay Area musicians such as bassist Kevin White and guitarist James DePrato (both of Chuck Prophet, The Mission Express), drummer Jeff Herrera, renown trumpet player Bill Ortiz (Santana, Destiny’s Child, Tito Puente, Tony Toni Tone), and electric bassoon and tenor sax player Paul Hanson (Bela Fleck and Cirque De Soleil). Anna Karney holds down guitar, various piano, organ and strings sounds, and lead and background vocals on all songs. For the new album NO MERCY, as well as on previous releases, KARNEY has worked with other Producers and artists in the SF Bay Area such as Producer/engineer Mark Pistel (Michael Franti, Grace Jones, Chuck Prophet, www.markpistel.com), Producer/Engineer Michael Rosen (Rancid, Tesla, Smashmouth, Santana, and Papa Roach, www.michaelsrosen.com), and Adam Munoz (Herbie Hancock, Dave Mathews, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Bell, Chester Thompson and Lyle Lovett).
Songs from NO MERCY are already receiving national Radio airplay on stations across the US and internationally as well. Anna Karney has had a diverse musical career, having spent many years composing music for computer games such as Star Wars Galaxies, Monkey Island IV, Armed and Dangerous, several SimCity titles, Metal Dungeon, Death Jr., and many more. She has also added youth choral director to her list of musical endeavors, having recently received the esteemed “Dreamcatcher” Award from the Visual and Performing Arts division of the San Francisco Unified School District for her work as a choral teacher and conductor for middle and high school students, as well as her contribution to the furthering of music education in the San Francisco public school system.
Additionally, Anna Karney has scored ballet and modern dance pieces as an artist in residence at Mills College and San Francisco State University. This includes pieces for many contemporary dance world choreographers and dancers such as Edward Valela, Anna Sokolo, San Francisco Ballet School, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Oberlin Dance Collective, Richard Gibson and The Academy of Ballet, June Watanabe, Joe Goode, Lucas Hoving, Ed Mock, Janice Garret, Melissa Fenley, and many more. She also composed her Opus 1 Chaconne Sur Sept for nationally renowned contemporary music group Earplay Ensemble.
