MySpace
myspace music my music  featured playlists  top artists  music videos  karaoke  shows  forums 

http://www.kingkarma.com/images/Myspace_Blog_Header.jpg
MySpace.com | rss | sign in
KING KARMA



Last Updated: 11/18/2009

Send Message
Instant Message
Email to a Friend
Subscribe

My Subscriptions
All Access Music & Entertainment Magazine

Blog Archive
[Older      Newer]
 /  / 
Saturday, July 05, 2008 

Category: Music


GREAT REVIEWS ROLLING IN FROM EUROPE!
.. ..

 

 

 

KING KARMA
Mama's Pride

(Mausoleum Records)

2008


Review by LORDS OF METAL, Netherlands

KING KARMA - Mama's Pride

Mausoleum Records


Well, Mausoleum Records surely is capable to surprise me this month because besides the very good debut album of Ceremony also this 'Mama's Pride' of the Canadian band King Karma is right on target in my opinion. The band plays a very catchy form of seventies hard rock with the necessary bluesy and southern rock influences and knows to maintain a high quality level during the total playing time of almost one hour divided over fourteen tracks in total (of which two are bonus songs).

I don't know what's going on, but this month I'm kind of spoiled with lots of new vocal talents because also with this band King Karma it's singer Shaun Williamson which steals the show here and really puts his mark on the overall sound of the band. Guitar player ..Markus.. Wolfe is the other band member that makes a big impression on me by means of his playful, bluesy guitar playing which really contributes to the great song material on offer here. The whole album is worthwhile to check out, but for me personally opening track 'Breathe', the Riverdogs-cover 'Revolution Man', the varying 'I'm Listening' and 'Devil's Road' are the best pieces of music. Because of the fact that most of the material on this record is already several years old (most of it dates back to 2005) and because the band was very busy writing new songs in 2007, I truly hope that it won't take too long for them to come up with a new album because this definitely asks for more!

Rating: 81/100. Clearly above average, you should check this one out..


Review online

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Review by METAL TO INFINITY, Belgium

King Karma - Mama's Pride

Mausoleum Records


Vancouver, Canada based King Karma is back with its second release entitled ''Mama's Pride''. I was unfamiliar with these guys until Mausoleum Records sent me a promo package within this great effort and other stuff. Curious as I was concerning King Karma's 'name of the game', I gave the album a few spins to write my review after all here are my thoughts about ''Mama's Pride''...

The band contains three Canadians named, Markus Wolfe-Guitars/mandolin, Todd Ronning-Bass and Rick Fedyk-Drums. The one in charge for all vocal lines is Shaun Williamson, he was born in Florida! At a very young age, Shaun became the singer of The Atlanta Rhythm Section after he was contacted by Lynyrd Skynyrd Leon Wilkeson. Through an audition that went very well, Shaun appeared with his new band in front of 70.000 fans at the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Starting a musical career like this - some can only dream about!

He joined the ARS ranks for three years; after all he headed to Europe - more specifically Germany where he formed a band called Backbone Slide who was managed by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. The band released a couple albums through Mausoleum Records, shared a lot of stages with famous greats,... to keep a long story short - Backbone Slide did it very well. Also worth to announce is the fact Shaun was also a member of other bands like The Moodies, Sunnyland Bluesband. Every outfit he popped up has had notable successes where booked.

Finally, he met King Karma's bassist Todd Ronning on his return to the States. KK back then was looking for a new singer with a feel for Blues Rock vocal lines. It's a genre you better stay away if your voice sounds crystal clear. Guys loaded with a boozy throat kinda like voice, made a chance to team up with King Karma. Shaun Williamson gave it a try - a bit later on, he became the official front man of the band who debuted with a self-titled album after a while. King Karma worked along with legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd / Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Johnson, a guy into the real stuff for many ages... hook him up and it can't go wrong for sure... satisfaction guaranteed! Never heard that first album, instead I can share my thoughts about their latest output entitled ''Mama's Pride''.

It's an almost 'one-hour' album that is made for the older generation of True Rock 'N' Roll music. Maybe we're bald and grey but the main thing is that we still believe in the real shit no matter what it takes. Once a rocker - always a rocker, too bad for those who can't get a grip on it. Well, this new album of King Karma is a pearl, a beauty, a truly 'must have' for sure if you're hooked on Classic or Blues Rock, also Classic Hard Rock and fans of Southern Rock better look out for an album like this. Absolutely nothing to do with 'Metal' - I can tell you that it really feels good to listen to ''Mama's Pride''. Influenced by bands like Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Whitesnake, Gov't Mule, Joe Bonamassa, Doc Holliday,... Great guitars breeding outstanding skills just like their drummer and bassist deliver - these guys are real professionals. The production is so damn great, I already scream for more to hear in the future. King Karma is obviously a band with a clear vision and full of ambition. A ticket to an international career is guaranteed.

Well, I especially lay my ears on a few 'personal faves' of mine such as: 'Revolution Man' which is a cover from Riverdogs, 'Mama's Pride', 'I'm Listening', 'Shake My Bones', 'Midnight Sunshine' (to name but a few). Efforts like this definitely let the good old times roll again - more great news around the band is that they are currently busy writing new songs and looking forward to hit the roads playing as much as possible concerts word wide. Final conclusion to me - excellent and very joyful, new release for the old school. Blues Rock as well as Southern Rock and Classic Hard Rock fanatics, this is your alley for sure!


MY POINTS: 85/ 100

Review online


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Review by ROCK PAGES, Greece

King Karma - Mama's Pride
Mausoleum Records

 

Those of you, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Bad Company nostalgic, will find your own shelter inside King Karma's new album. The Canadians have managed to transcend the sound and the Hard/Southern Rock/South Blues feeling themselves to their "Mama's Pride" album, even though they live a few thousand miles away.

The thing that got me from minute one in this CD, is the 70's nostalgia, listening to such a quality work, concerning compositions and production, which makes those fourteen songs sound so classic yet so fresh. There are no experiments here, nor any improvisations or technique demonstrations by the four musicians. There is only original Rock in here and nothing else.

"Mama's Pride" is a must for all the people who miss those sounds and I think there's a lot of them out there!

Dimitris Kazantzis....

Review online

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Review by SCARRED FOR LIFE - Germany

King Karma - Mama's Pride

Mausoleum Records

Review online

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

Get KING KARMA - Mama's Pride at:

MAUSOLEUM RECORDS

 

 

3:12 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 

Category: Music


KING KARMA OFFICIALLY RELEASED IN EUROPE

Mausoleum Records, Europe's number 1 heavy metal label, has just released KING KARMA's debut to European stores and Amazon UK. Mausoleum has given the debut a new cover under the name "Mama's Pride" which includes the initial 12 tracks plus 2 bonus tracks, "Lady White and "Born in '69". Look for it this summer!



Check out KING KARMA at:


9:07 AM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, June 02, 2008 

Category: Music



KING KARMA THANKS ALL WHO VOTED!


KING KARMA wishes to thank all those who voted for the band in this year's 2008 ROCKWIRED AWARDS. The band took home the award for "BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR" for their critically acclaimed self-titled debut. MARKUS WOLFE and TODD RONNING of KK gladly accepted the award presented to them by Brian Lush of ROCKWIRED LIVE as shown in the photo below:



ROCKWIREDLIVE
EVERY SATURDAY
AT
5:00PM (PST)
ON

4:51 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, March 03, 2008 

Category: Music


KING KARMA WINS AWARD FOR BEST ALBUM!

According to ROCKWIRED, KING KARMA was the most enthusiastically received band to be featured on ROCKWIRED LIVE in 2007. That enthusiasm lead to the band walking away with the award for BEST ALBUM of the year, an award chosen by listener's of the Radio Show. Read more

ROCKWIRED KTST-FM

10:27 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, January 24, 2008 

Category: Music



KING KARMA UP FOR "2007 CD OF THE YEAR"

KING KARMA is up for KWEEVAK MUSIC MAGAZINE'S "2007 CD OF THE YEAR" award. The 8th annual round of voting for CD of the year begins today and runs through until January 31, 2008. Click here and vote now for KING KARMA. We thank-you for your support!


6:15 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Friday, December 28, 2007 

Category: Music



KING KARMA NOMINATED FOR 3 AWARDS!

ROCKWIRED LIVE has just announced that KING KARMA has been nominated for 3 awards, BEST BAND, BEST ALBUM and BEST SONG (Devil's Road). The polling has begun for the 2008 ROCKWIRED AWARDS and will remain open until February 22, 2008. You can help KK win by casting your vote - click here to vote.  The winners will be announced on a special edition of ROCKWIRED LIVE Saturday, March 1, 2008, at 5:00PM (PST) on KTST. Thanks for your support and Happy Holidays!

8:46 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, October 04, 2007 

Category: Music

 

KING KARMA FEATURED ON KWEEVAK RADIO

Songs from KING KARMA's debut are now featured on the
Kweevak Music Magazine Podcast for October 2007
Click here and listen to Podcast

KWEEVAK MUSIC MAGAZINE


7:56 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, July 05, 2007 

Category: Music

NEW VIDEO FOR DEVIL'S ROAD

Click here and watch it now!

6:11 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, April 16, 2007 

Category: Music

***MARKUS WOLFE INTERVIEW WITH ROCKWIRED***



MARKUS WOLFE OF KING KARMA TALKS TO ROCKWIRED ABOUT GETTING THE MUSIC OUT THERE, GOIN' SOUTH (TO FIND A LEAD SINGER THAT IS) AND THE SOUND OF 5000 MOTORCYCLES GETTING REVVED UP!!!

Just when you thought that good old-fashioned balls-to-the-walls blues-based hard rock was no more, along comes KING KARMA to prove you wrong. They may be slightly under the radar but that's got nothing to do with the raw power of this hard rock foursome. Their self-titled debut (KING KARMA, CENTURION RECORDS), produced by the legendary JIMMY JOHNSON (LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BOB SEGER) is the perfect introduction. It's been a while since we've heard rock n roll served up with this much gusto and passion (vocals by SHAUN WILLIAMSON). Ax-man MARKUS WOLFE gives us one of the great guitar performances in recent years while TODD RONNING on bass and RICK FEDYK on drums provide us with that never failing, thunderous, LED ZEPPELIN-ESQUE rhythm section. KING KARMA are definitely one of the tightest rock n roll packages around (get it out of the gutter!!!). Just give the tracks BREATHE, DEVIL'S ROAD, and I'M LISTENING a spin. This stuff is addicting!

ROCKWIRED had a chance to talk with lead guitarist MARKUS WOLFE over the phone. Here is how it went?

Are you guys on down time at the moment? What's up with the band right now?
Well, there's never any down time with KING KARMA. We've been writing for a new album and that's all that we've been concentrating on for the past few months.

Since the KING KARMA CD is the one that I'm going to be showcasing - How do you guys feel about it? Do you think that it's the perfect introduction to you as a band?
The album was written over a period of a couple of months. In fact, it wasn't the first bunch of songs written for that particular album. We wrote a lot of songs in early 2002 and had a change of singers. When we brought in the new singer (SHAUN WILLIAMSON) we decided to write all new songs. I think that's a collective works of all four guys. Everyone is involved with the writing process so I think it's a pretty good indication of what KING KARMA is.

Why the name? What brought about the name?
Well, that's a TODD RONNING question. He came up with it. We'd been searching for a name for some time. We wanted something that was catchy and had a bit of meaning to it. KING KARMA is nothing personal or close to us, but it could mean a whole bunch of things to different people and that's why the name appeals to everybody in the band. So, I can't give you a real definitive answer on that.

You and TODD seem to go back quite a ways.
We do go back quite a ways. Actually we crossed paths in the mid nineties in different bands that we had been playing in. We'd see each other once in a while but we never had any ideas of playing together or writing together. A mutual friend brought us together and found that we both enjoyed the same kind of music and had the same ideals.

I read that you guys had a songwriting partnership in the beginning. Who did you write for, yourselves or other people?
We wrote for ourselves but we did write for other people. There were a few songs that went over to Europe that other bands had picked up but the main idea was writing for ourselves. It wasn't really a band project. It was more of a songwriting project. Both of us had toured extensively at that point and we both figured that we could use a break from that by hanging out, writing some songs and seeing how that would go.

What drew you to playing guitar?
That's a great question. We're going back a few years now. Probably JIMI HENDRIX, JIMMY PAGE, those kind of guys listening to music in the early days. There were also bands like FREE and BAD COMPANY. Things like that got the blood going for me to play guitar.

WHAT is this GIT that I keep hearing about?
GIT is a guitar school in LA. People from all over the country and all over the world come to LA to study at this school. It's very exclusive and very technical and theory oriented. The beautiful thing about this school is that you're going to school with a thousand other guitar players, and that's where the real learning is, not just sitting in a class room and taking notes on theory.

How did you guys happen upon SHAUN WILLIAMSON as the lead singer?
Actually me and TODD both moved to Nashville in 2000. We had been looking for a rock-bluesy singer and we couldn't find one on the west coast so we decided to move south to see if we could pick up anybody there. We wanted someone with a natural blues background and SHAUN came about through STEVE MELTON who was the engineer and co-producer of the album along with JIMMY JOHNSON. STEVE had worked with SHAUN in the past and suggested him.

And you recorded this CD at MUSCLE SHOALS? What was that like?
Well, the majority of the album was recorded in Vancouver at MUSHROOM STUDIOS which also has a lot of history. We did record at the original MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND and that was a fantastic experience. They still had pictures of everyone who recorded there on the walls.  We're talking LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BOB SEGER, ARETHA FRANKLIN, ROD STEWART, and THE ROLLING STONES. These were the people that JIMMY JOHNSON had actually worked with over his career. The vibe was tremendous.

How did you guys get JIMMY JOHNSON to produce?
We were in Nashville working with our first singer. There were a few people that were diggin' what we were doing.  Our demo got passed on to JOHN BRIGGS, the VP of ASCAP, and JOHN in turn sent our CD over to JIMMY in Alabama. He called us and said "Hey guys, I really like your stuff. Come down to my studio and let's have a meeting." It goes without saying that this was a huge deal for us.

Who is KING KARMA now and who brings what to the band?
We've got SHAUN WILLIAMSON as the lead singer. He's really got a rock n roll soul as far as we're concerned. You can play all of the heavy riffs that you have but if you don't have some soulful vocals behind it, it goes nowhere. TODD RONNING on bass and RICK FEDYK on drums create a thunderous rhythm section. They're great players and a real tight group. Everybody brings a lot to the band. It's not just one or two people. Everybody's got an input and that's why I think it works.

Explain if it's explainable the creative process. How do the songs come about?
Usually I'll come up with a guitar riff or TODD will come up with a riff and we'll play it to each other first and then we bring it to the band and then it's me TODD and RICK who will get together first. If it works right away we'll bring SHAUN in on it.  Everybody is really proficient on their instruments and things come together quickly as far as parts and stuff like that. Once we've got the basics down, SHAUN will just start writing lyrics and melodies and we all work on it from there.

What's life on the road like for the band?
It's all about getting the music out to the people. I think we're all really low key. We're not big partiers. We like to have a good time - don't get me wrong- but it's all about the music. We play our show, pack up our gear and we're gone to the next town and we're on the bus talking about the show and how we can make it better. There is some writing that happens on the road.

You've opened for quite a few people, who was your favorite person to open up for.
That's a difficult one. I would have to say PAUL RODGERS. I think he's the greatest rock vocalist. He and I have become quite good friends over the years. In fact, the way I met PAUL - I got a call one night to come down to a local bar and bring my guitar. I had no idea what was going on.  I was asked if I remembered any of the old BAD COMPANY/FREE songs and I was like Of course, I grew up on this stuff. I walk into the bar and in walks PAUL RODGERS. He hands me a set list and says "you know these songs?" and I said absolutely. That was how we first met. We played a gig together.

Is there anyone that you'd like to work with?
LED ZEPPELIN. Not gonna happen. I enjoy all things music. It doesn't have to be a certain style. We're based around this seventies bluesy-rock style but I don't mind playing with just about anybody.

You guys are pretty much the only blue based hard rock out there. How does it feel? Do you feel isolated by it or do you find it advantageous because it makes you stick out?
Oddly enough, we get that question quite often- maybe not in those exact words- for us it was never a style or genre to chase. This is who we are. It's the kind of music that we grew up on. When we all came together we realized that we all had that in common. We never tried to be that. We are that. It feels natural. If it puts us in a category different from everyone else, then that's a bonus too.

How hard or easy is it to get the music out there?
These days it's a little easier cause there are more forms of media as opposed to ten years ago. You've got playing live which is number one but now you've got the internet, internet radio stations.

Your label CENTURION RECORDS really seems to have you back there. How is that bands relationship with the label?
Its great, CENTURION is an Indie label but they spend more time developing their acts. They're all very involved in what we are doing and more importantly, we're all on the same page. Everything that we do, they always seem to want to work with us, so I think that it's a really good relationship.

How is the new CD coming along?
As you know, these things can take some time. It's gonna be a KING KARMA CD no doubt but I think people will be surprised by the growth of some of the writing. I'm kind of excited about it.

You played STURGIS a few times.
Playing STURGIS is an experience. They don't cheer or clap. Instead they rev up their motorcycles. So you've got to imagine 5000 motorcycles being revved up after every song. That's your applause. It's great.

How much is a KING KARMA T-shirt?
For you?

Yeah
I think we can send you one

Okay
What's your size?

XL. Oh by the way, are you touring this summer?
I hope that we'll be doing a good string of shows. Check the website (www.kingkarma.com) for dates that are coming up.

Interview by Brian Lush for ROCKWIRED

www.rockwired.com

9:15 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, March 18, 2007 

Category: Music

NEW VIDEO OF KING KARMA LIVE!

This live footage of KING KARMA performing their hard rock rendition of a Muddy Waters classic was shot last summer while the group opened for LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The video has just been released and posted on YouTube. Watch it now!

10:17 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate