Bio

Karen Mansfield is an American singer songwriter from Oceanport, New Jersey. 

Karen was born in Oceanport, New Jersey to her parents William and Alice Mansfield. She enjoyed learning the songs her maternal grandmother taught her to sing as a youngster and although she was naturally shy, she often performed these songs for family and friends at parties and gatherings. 

Upon starting school, Karen showed clear signs that she was suffering from what is now known as Selective Mutism, Attention Deficit Disorder as well as Dyslexia, which resulted in her being held behind, having to repeat first grade. With a warmer teacher who she connected with creatively and a sweet teacher’s aide who helped her concentrate on her school work she began to grow some confidence.  The summer after her second attempt at 1st grade she was invited on her birthday to see The Carpenters in concert. As she experienced the thrill of live performance and the star power of the woman who shared her first name, her beautiful voice and her amazing drum performance, she knew instantly what she wanted to do and be when she grew up.

A few years later, to her teacher’s disbelief, while in third grade, still quiet and shy, she volunteered to sing Silent Night as a solo in the school play. She showed herself, her teacher and the entire school how serious she was and how confident she felt about what she interpreted as her calling.  

At ten her parents separated, yet through the hostility of their tumultuous relationship,  she found her refuge again in creative ways when her father introduced her to his old table top reel to reel recorder, and she  began “making up songs” about everything and and everyone at every chance she could.

Her passion for writing poetry and lyrics started developing in high school, when her English teacher made it mandatory for students to  write in their personal  journal for 10 minutes at the start of every class. This began a lifelong outlet, as well as another creative refuge for Karen.  Her music tastes were changing and she was drawn to the music and lyrics of Jim Morrison and The Doors. She also loved originality, vocal harmonies and quirkiness of the B52’s, but it wasn’t until after high school during a week of excessive drinking that Karen encountered a Near Death Experience. This generated an urgency that led her to start taking her music dreams more seriously.  Driven by the calling she was made aware of through this experience she committed to her first full time job, now earning decent money, was able to buy an acoustic guitar and take private lessons. 

Within a few months she was writing songs and in less than a year she began her music career by forming and fronting the acoustic punk feminist “almost – all female” band, The Bleeding Knees, becoming an integral part of the original punk / alternative rock music scene of the Jersey Shore. The Bleeding Knees were known for their wild stage antics, outrageous performances, and sing-song melodies, accompanied by humorously vulgar defiant feminist lyrics. One of the last of the band’s performances was opening for Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls, at Murphy’s Law in Long Branch, NJ.  Soon after with frictions developing in the band, and disagreements over their future, Mansfield dissolved the group to pursue a solo career. 

It was at this time that she lost her father to a sudden illness, while at the same time addressing her alcoholism. She has since maintained a life of sobriety until this day.

She made a name for herself as a singer songwriter and solo acoustic performer in and around the storied original music scene of Asbury Park, NJ, palling around and performing with the crème of the crop of the local musicians such as Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco) and Erik Paparozzi (Cat Power). She won numerous awards and shared bills with artists such as Robert Hazard, John Eddie, Jeff Buckley, Concrete Blonde, Ocean Blue, Jewel, Vance Gilbert, James McCartney, Simon Townsend, Richard Barone and Garland Jeffries.

Karen recorded a 12 song album with session musicians John Conte, Shawn Pelton, Jack Morer through a spec deal, which was never released. 

Karen was a frequent special guest of Bobby Bandiera’s (Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Bon Jovi) during his countless shows in venues across New Jersey, sitting in with his special guests including Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith), G.E. Smith (SNL band) and Little Steven (Bruce Springsteen).It was around this time when Mansfield contributed backing vocals on the Whirling Dervishes album Strange and Wonderful. Not long after her single “Jessie” was released as part of the Imperative Collection, a compilation album of unsigned original artists from Jersey Shore original music scene. 

Karen had a short stint playing bass and performing vocals under the moniker “Trixie” in the alternative punk supergroup side project, Summer Nationals releasing a version of the Buzzcock’s “Orgasm Addict” on This is Offensive, a cover compilation album. The band also released a vinyl single of “Carlton and Me / He’s a Cad” on the DaDa label. 

Karen formed her three piece band, Mansfield Electric, named after her late father’s electrical contracting business. It was during this time she signed with mastering engineer Alan Douches’s indie label Deko Records, West West Side Music. A full album was recorded that was never released. 

When faced with an unplanned pregnancy, with no involvement  from the biological father, she was confident and determined to become a mother and make her music dreams come true. Juggling her music career, whatever day job she could find and raising her daughter alone, Karen graduated Rutgers, the State University (Mason Gross School of the Arts) with BA in Music. 

She released her 6 song EP, Karen Mansfield, to critical acclaim on November 16, 2014 on her own label, Willow Bella Music. 

Her full length album, Thistle + Boon, was released February 14, 2018, again through Willow Bella Music, entering the Billboard HeatSeekers Chart at number 6. The album was produced by Steve Greenwell (Joss Stone, Steve Forbert, James Maddock) and upon its release, the single “There Was a Girl” was voted one of the top ten songs of the year for the state of NJ by The Asbury Park Press. 

During the global lockdown of the COVID 19 pandemic, Mansfield gathered fellow musicians to form The Asbury Park Love Contingent, recording a cover version of Melanie Safka’s “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” working again with Steve Greenwell at the helm. The single was released July 10, 2020 through Deko Entertainment, with all proceeds going to The Jersey Shore Rescue Mission, a local homeless shelter to benefit those who were without shelter during a state mandated shelter in place order. The remote video for the single received more than 100,000 views on Facebook, and won The Garden State Film Festival for Best Revival of a Folk Rock Classic in a Music Video in 2021.

Reconnecting to her ten year old self, and returning to her first love, in fall of 2022 she applied and was accepted into the Master’s of Music Program for Music Technology at Southern Utah University.

Karen is currently in pre-production for her first self engineered, self produced third album.