Artist of the year! Karen Basset

2019 was a tough year all around. A couple of years ago, we lamented the loss of a lot of musicians and celebrities we loved. In 2019, it got personal. It seems like everyone we know dealt with the loss of someone close to them.

However, the tough persist. Woody Radio is a tough band of radio pirates, full of heart, and we know those qualities when we see them.

In that vein, it is our pleasure and honor to present the Artist of the Year award for 2019 to Karen Basset.

Karen, the artist we honor this year, deserves so much more in life than just this. She is an amazing artist, producer, musician, friend, cool person, etc….

In a year of losses big and small, she has endured quite a bit. The loss of a bandmate she worked extensively with, and her father…yet she took the time to console others in her time of pain. She is behind the scenes far too much when her talents just scream “Hey I am the shit!” She’s still making music, and encouraging others along the way. Other musicians seek her advice and counsel, or just straight up want her to play bass or drums in their band. She’s a good example of carrying on when times are hard, and of always doing the right thing, 100 percent of the time.

In the early days she was a Pandora. A hero to girls who wanted to be more than a GoGo or a Bangle. Boys loved them for the rawness and the realness, and it was just cool to be a fan. These days, she’s in other current bands The Rebel Pebbles, The Kariannes, Arthur Alexander Band, The Test Pressings, and who knows, by the time you’re done reading this article, maybe another one too.

She is also a highly sought-after recording engineer and producer, having run her own studio for decades. Some of our favorite bands here at Woody Radio have recorded with Karen.

Woody Radio has been a longtime supporter of all the bands she has played in, and she is a regular fixture on many of our shows, not to mention her few times a day stint at the Secret Weapon. She’s had longtime standing on both Boris’s and Gidget’s charts. One of Gidget and Mike’s favorite recent efforts: The Kariannes, her collaboration with Maryanne Window. They released their debut single on Big Stir Records, “This Song Is A Cure” b/w “Every Word Means No” (covering Let’s Active). These two songs have been among our favorite earworms of 2019. You can check them out here: The Kariannes digital download on Big Stir Records.

Recently she was charged with the task of working/engineering with long time friend and bandmate Kim Shattuck’s last works. Kim trusted her with everything. That says a lot right there.

Just a couple of the artists she has worked with include Woody favorite Hillary Burton and everyone’s favorite cousin, Robbie Rist.

We applaud Karen Basset for her long career in rock and roll, for being a go-to person in the L.A. music scene, and for being an all-around good person. For us, that last quality looms pretty large. That’s the intangible which sealed our decision. There are lots of good musicians out there, but Karen is one who a lot of others look up to. And we at Woody Radio look up to her too, and are honored to have her as part of our playlists. Congratulations, Karen Basset!

It was hard to decide what to write that would do justice for such an amazing woman.

This is from her facebook “about me” section. You be the judge: