KARIN BLAINE is a Seattle-based-singer-songwriter-poet with a reputation for compelling live performances. With one voice and one guitar the indie-folk-powerhouse delivers her take on the task of being human in today’s world and seeks to satisfy the ‘jones’ for connection that jangles us all in modern day living.
“Seattle’s nearest equivalent to Suzanne Vega”
from Seattle’s Rocket, December 1989
Karin has appeared on stages and clubs throughout the Pacific Northwest and points beyond, including Seattle’s Bumbershoot, the NW Folk Festival, the Kerrville Folks Festival in Kerrville, TX, Boston’s Club Passim and the Postcrypt Coffeehouse in NYC.
Over the years, her highly original songwriting has gained her recognition and respect. A virtual unknown she was included on both Vol. I & Vol. II Album Projects produced by Seattle’s KEZX-FM radio in 1983 & 1986, projects that featured the areas top musical acts. The albums were regional successes.
“Live performance is the most creative thing I do as an artist. It’s kind of like trading solos in a jazz tune – me and the audience- an energetic exchange, immediate, real, maybe, even risky, never-ever to happen again in the same way.” kb
Karin has recorded three album length projects, Karin Blaine (1989), Dirty Money (2003) and Modern Day Living (2012) plus singles, I Love Julian (2011) & The Decision Is Mine ( 2015).
“A reminder of the folk queens: Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and yet a little Grace Slick, Tracy Chapman, and Don McLean, with a jazz edge thrown in. She isn’t imitating anyone…”Lecky Harrison, examiner.com in West Seattle, 2012
This fall (2024) Blaine is recording a new arrangement of her anti-war anthem, GAZA (2003), for re-release as a single. She has, also, returned to performing live in the greater Seattle area with her beloved 1970 Gibson J-45.
Karin Blaine’s music is available on AppleMusic, Spotify & Bandcamp
Check the Events page for upcoming gigs.
THE DECISION IS MINE
Blaine’s pro-choice anthem written in 1989 to honor the 15 year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the constitutional guarantee of a woman’s right to choose, overturned by the Supreme Court in June of 2022 with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
Oh, the news! it ain’t so good
I was hoping for a different answer
I ain’t the first, no I won’t be the last
I’m just another woman in that age old bind
They can make it whatever they want
They can make it legal, they can make it a killin’ crime
They can make it whatever they want
The decision is mine!
It’s the same old story we’ve come to know
Somebody’s getting’ elected on a woman’s soul
And down our bodies the line is drawn
The sides are taken and the fight is on
They can make it whatever they want
They can make it legal, they can make it a killin’ crime
They can make it whatever they want
The decision is mine!
Throw me in a cop car, convict me of a crime
I’m guilty of being a woman
Making my own choice
If you’ve never been there, then never go
‘Cause it’s a lonely, lonely walk
Through a mixed up world
With just your god right by your side
That god who watches over women in that aged old bind,
They can make it whatever they want
They can make it legal, they can make it a killin’ crime
They can make it whatever they want
The decision is mine!
I LOVE JULIAN © 2011 Karin Blaine/dudessdahlia records
Karin’s homage to Julian Assange written after the Wikileaks publication of US classified documents containing the controversial “Collateral Murder” video and his subsequent persecution by the US and UK. Assange was released from Belmarsh prision on June 24, 2024 after he formally plead guilty to one count of breaching the Espionage Act. He has returned to his native Australia.
I LOVE JULIAN
Don’t stand in the dark and lie to me
Come into the light so I can see
The blood on your hands, the evil in your eyes
I love Julian!
It’s gonna get ugly, it’s gonna get rough,
I know just how tough they’re gonna play
They wanna shut you down, they gotta shut you up
I love Julian!
The titans are trembling, the tyrants scared
Of Delilah cutting off their hair
Well-coiffed secrets are falling to the floor
I love Julian!
The uniforms and the business suits are terrified that we will see the truth
That they’re bleeding us dry
They’re taking everything we got
I love Julian!
All of the heroes I’ve ever loved
Have been shot, jailed or hung
For telling the truth, for saying it straight
For taking the heat and I love Julian!
See the monster with his mask
See the bully with his guns and his gas
See the people marching in the street
I love Julian!
See the shiny war machine that fights a foe I do not know or see
While mercenaries profit
And the politicians preen
I love Julian!
It won’t be pretty and it won’t be nice
The truth requires a sacrifice
There is a cost we must be willing to pay
I love Julian!
The truth is a lover in the night
Passionate and hot
The truth whispers in your ear
“ Now’s the time to JUST STAND UP!”
Some times it’s a word, some times it’s an act
Some times it’s a march in the street.
Sometimes it’s quiet, sometimes it’s a riot
Sometimes it’s a leak and I love Julian!
All of the heroes I’ve ever loved
Have been shot, jailed or hung
For telling the truth, for saying it straight
For taking the heat and I love Julian!
I love Julian, oooh, oooh
I love Julian!
I LOVE JULIAN!