Karen Underwood – Of Ladies Lost and Found With John O’Brien – John Field Room NCH |  8pm | 13th of January 2015

Karen and John started the night with ‘Precious Lord, take my hand’, exposing her roots as a Gospel singer. Her style of singing is more about emotion than control, and she has a loose, free flowing style showing her full vocal range. This night was dedicated to the Divas of the last 50 or so years and she worked her way through some of the better known tracks from singers such as Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Edith Piaf. There was an introduction to many of these songs, talking about the lives of the individual singers, their addictions, their loves and how they lived their lives. These short pieces served to give a flavour of where the music came from, and made you listen to the lyrics slightly more intently.

There were also a few surprise inclusions such as Whitney Huston and even Judie Andrews, which was at the request of her cohort John O’Brien. She didn’t seem convinced by Judie, but her life story alone makes her worthy of inclusion. She ended the first set with a rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, Je ne regrette rien’. After the short interval, and a costume change into a golden number, the songbook continued. Some of the strongest songs on the night were ‘Strange Fruit’ (Billie Holiday), ‘Feeling Good’ (Nina Simone) and Lilac Wine. She ended the night with a version of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ before confirming that she considered Freddie Mercury to be a Diva! I’m sure he wouldn’t argue.

Karen didn’t talk much about herself over the course of the night, but we got snippets of her life. Karen was born in Chicago but has been living in Ireland for 17 years now. How she ended up here she didn’t reveal! It would have been nice to hear more about the woman herself. She has a warm, rich personality, and she can say more with a smile or a grimace than many can in an hour long oration.

Her first album is about to be released – which is a live album Of Ladies Lost and Found

For more information n Karen Underwood, check out her Facebook page here.

Set List
Precious Lord
What a Difference a Day Makes
God Bless the Child
I Look to You
Nature Boy
I Loves You Porgy
Love is a Losing Game
And I Love Him
The Man That Got Away
If You Love Me
Je Ne Regrette Rien
– Interval –
Kissing You
Mad About the Boy
Over the Rainbow
Lilac Wine
Ne Me Quitte Pas
I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today
Strange Fruit
Both Sides Now
Feeling Good
Somebody to Love