Dee Carstensen (born February 18, 1956) is a New York City-based contemporary folk and new age singer/songwriter who is best known for her harp playing.

Personal life

Carstensen was born on February 18, 1956 in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and later moved with her parents and four siblings to Rochester. She started her musical interest by playing piano when she was 5 years old, and later took up

stringed instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play so ...

s when she was 8. Part of her studies in the stringed instrument family included the harp, which was done with a harpist from the

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music. History George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Compan ...

. Carstensen described her relationship with stringed instruments as "love-hate", while she said her upbringing was "classical training" she was also listening to

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. Carstensen is married to vibist

Mike Mainieri Michael T. Mainieri Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American vibraphonist, known for his work with the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead. He is married to the singer-songwriter and harpist Dee Carstensen. Biography Mainieri was born in The Bronx, N ...

, who she says is the "single most important influence on her musical career." She cites this by mentioning 2 separate instances where she would "throw out ideas" and Mainieri offered his constructive criticism for her.

Career

Carstensen's debut came in 1993 with her album ''Beloved One'', which was largely produced by

Bob Marlette Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Seether, Saliva, Lyn ...

and included guitar work by

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

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. Her second album called ''Regarding the Soul'' came out in 1995, and was produced by

Neil Dorfsman Neil Dorfsman (born May 31, 1952) is an American sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Dire Straits, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney and Sting. He won Grammy Awards for Best Producer for Bruce Hornsby's '' ...

. In this album Dee integrated her singing, songwriting and harp-playing after "fooling around" with the instrument for a bit. ''Regarding the Soul'' was initially released under a subsidiary imprint called "Exit Nine Records" by Mainieri, and was later re-released in 1998 under

Blue Thumb Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally descr ...

. Dee's third album called ''The Map'' also came out during this year which was released under a joint-venture agreement between GRP and Mainieri's NYC Records. However, the

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...

s release schedule for the Summer of 1998 mentions Blue Thumb instead. Dee also recorded a children's album, ''Can You Hear Lullaby'' (2001), which featured guest vocals Everett Bradley, Curtis King and Julie Dansky and instrumental work by her husband. Dee went back into the studio and recorded a solo album, ''Patch of Blue'', which was released in 2005. Unlike previous work, all eight songs were originals, except ''Fly Away'' whose music was co-written with her husband, who played vibraphone on the album. ''Patch of Blue'' did not include any guitar work. Instead, it featured Dee's harp and vocals, with backing from the Tosca String Quartet and several woodwind players. Carstensen has been described as using her harp "like a guitar" in her folk/pop compositions.

Discography

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carstensen, Dee 1956 births Living people American folk musicians American women folk musicians American new-age musicians Musicians from New York (state) American women harpists