Carolyne Mas

“Carolyne Mas is one of the new breed of female singers who have been tagged with the convenient 'female Bruce Springsteen' label, simply because she sings about urban lifestyles and has a saxophone player in her backing band.

Carolyne was born in Bronxville, New York, in 1956 and began voice lessons for Opera singing when she was 11. During her high-school years she sang with jazz, rock and folk bands before going to the American Music and Dramatic Academy in Greenwich Village. Next stop was the Light Opera of Manhattan where she sang Gilbert and Sullivan, and then the Pennsylvania folk festival in 1974. Little was heard of her for the next two years, until she re-emerged in New York in 1976, playing around the club circuit--this time with rock'n'roll bands.

Some demo tapes found their way to various radio stations and the response was impressive. In 1978 Mas met up with producer Steve Burgh, who'd just finished producing Steve Forbert's debut album, and guitarist David Landau, who had been touring with Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon. Landau later became her musical director, guitarist and co-author of three songs on the first album. Burgh and Landau persuaded Carolyne to concentrate on rehearsing and in 1979 her first serious exposure came when she opened for Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee in New York. Critical reaction was glowing and after three months of intensive work she secured a recording contract with Mercury Records.

A self-titled debut album was recorded in May 1979 and hailed as one of the finest debut albums from a female singer in many years. Mas wrote, or co-wrote all the songs and showed herself to be a mature songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and pianist. Her second album, again produced by Steve Burgh, is titled 'Hold On.'” - Glenn A. Baker & Stuart Coupe